Guadalajara

Mexico COUNTRY

5,002,466 CITY POPULATION

Mayor-Council GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Guadalajara is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. The city has a population of 1,460,148, while the Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of 5,002,466, making it the second-largest metropolitan area in the country. Guadalajara has the second highest population density in Mexico, with over 10,361 people per square kilometre. Guadalajara is an international center of business, finance, arts, and culture, as well as the economic center of the Bajío region, one of the most productive and developed regions in Latin America. It lies roughly in the centre of the state, in the Atemajac Valley near the Río Grande de Santiago, at an elevation of about 5,100 feet . It is one of the most productive and globally competitive cities in the world. The city is an important center for science, technology, finance, culture, innovation, education, business, and tourism in Mexico. It is home to numerous landmarks, including Guadalajara Cathedral, the Teatro Degollado, the Templo Expiatorio, the Hospicio Cabañas, and the San Juan de Dios Market—the largest indoor market in Latin America.Guadalajara was founded on 14 February 1542 by Cristóbal de Oñate, a Basque conquistador, as the capital of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia, part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. After 1572, the Royal Audiencia of Guadalajara, previously subordinate to Mexico City, became the only authority in New Spain with autonomy over Nueva Galicia, owing to rapidly growing wealth in the kingdom following the discovery of silver. The city flourished during the Porfiriato, with the advent of the industrial revolution, but its growth was hampered significantly during the Mexican Revolution. In 1929, the Cristero War ended within the confines of the city, when President Plutarco Elías Calles proclaimed the Grito de Guadalajara. The city saw continuous growth throughout the rest of the 20th century, attaining a 1 million metro population in the 1960s and passing 3 million in the 1990s.Guadalajara is a global city and one of Mexico's most important cultural centers.

It is home to numerous mainstays of Mexican culture, including Mariachi, Tequila, and Birria and hosts numerous notable events, including the Guadalajara International Film Festival, the most important film festival in Latin America, and the Guadalajara International Book Fair, the largest book fair in the Americas. The city was the American Capital of Culture in 2005 and has hosted numerous global events, including the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 1st Ibero-American Summit in 1991, and the 2011 Pan American Games.

Data and Facts

The colloquial term for someone or something from Guadalajara is Tapatío. The word originates from the Nahuatl word tapatiotl, a monetary unit used in pre-Colonial times
Central to Guadalajara’s reputation as a cultural hub of Latin America is the fact that it hosts the International Film Festival, widely considered the most prestigious film festival in Latin America
The city is home to Guadalajara Chivas, Mexico’s most popular soccer team. Known as El Rebaño Sagrado (The Sacred Herd), Chivas has a unique tradition of fielding only Mexican players, earning it a reputation as Mexico’s most patriotic club
The 2014 Castrol Magnatec Stop-Start Index placed Guadalajara as one of the top ten cities with the worst traffic in the world
The Global Public Transit Index says the average amount of time people spend commuting on public transport in Guadalajara on a weekday is 82 minutes
Guadalajara has Latin America's largest indoor market. A vast three-storey market in the city center, San Juan de Dios has nearly 3,000 stalls
Guadalajara holds the largest Spanish language book fair in the world

Administration

Guadalajara is one of the three main cities of Mexico and one of the more important cities in Latin America. According to the last census of population of the National Institute of Statistic and Geography of 2010, Guadalajara counts with a total of 1.5 million of inhabitants and a superficy of 151 square kilometers.

The directory of governmental innovation is developed from the premises of the open government agenda, homologated by the principles of the government approved by the administration. It aims at impulsing an agenda with a social impact, and not only with a goal of technological management within the municipality.Historically, the mayorship of the city has been a common leaping platform for the state governorship. Additionally, because of the sheer size of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area vis-à-vis the rest of the state, the city's urban agglomeration—largely dominated and coordinated by the Guadalajara city council—captures 12 of the 20 seats in the state legislature allocated by district.

All three branches of the state government are concentrated around the historic city center, with the Palace of Government, seat of the state executive, immediately southeast of the Cathedral. North, across the Plaza de la Liberación, is the State Legislature Building, and immediately east of the latter is the Supreme Tribunal of State Justice. The legislature has the cabildo, formed by the form chosen by the candidate for mayor, made up of aldermen, who are not elected by the people by direct or indirect voting, but the return happens automatically if the mayor wins. The municipality is divided into five electoral districts for the purpose of election of representatives of the city in the federal legislature. These districts are the VIII, IX, XI, XIII and XIV of the state of Jalisco. The city and the municipality of Guadalajara are essentially coextensive with over 99% of the municipality living within the city limits and nearly all of the municipality urbanized.Urbanization centered on the city spreads out over seven other municipalities; of Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá, Tlajomulco de Zuñiga, El Salto, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos and Juanacatlán.These areas form the «Guadalajara Metropolitan Area» , which is the most populous in the state of Jalisco and the second most populous in the country after the Mexico City Metropolitan area.

Economy

Guadalajara’s economy is traditionally based on its services as a political capital and as a commercial entrepôt for the surrounding agricultural region, which is devoted primarily to corn , beans, and livestock. Since 1940 the city has also been a major manufacturer of textiles, electronics, chemicals, building materials, tobacco products, soft drinks, and other products. Handicrafts are also important.

Guadalajara has the third-largest economy and industrial infrastructure in Mexico and contributes 37% of the state of Jalisco's total gross production. Its economic base is strong and well diversified, mainly based on commerce and services, although the manufacturing sector plays a defining role. It is ranked in the top ten in Latin America in gross domestic product and the third highest ranking in Mexico. In its 2007 survey entitled «Cities of the Future», FDi magazine ranked Guadalajara highest among major Mexican cities and designated Guadalajara as having the second strongest economic potential of any major North American city behind Chicago. FDI ranked it as the most business-friendly Latin American city in 2007.

In 2009 Moody's Investors Service assigned ratings of Ba1 and A1.mx . During the prior five years, the municipality's financial performance had been mixed but had begun to stabilize in the later two years. Guadalajara manages one of the largest budgets among Mexican municipalities and its revenue per capita indicator places it above the average for Moody's-rated municipalities in Mexico.The city's economy has two main sectors. Commerce and tourism employ most: about 60% of the population. Sixty percent of manufactured products are sold domestically, while forty percent are exported, mostly to the United States. This makes Guadalajara's economic fortunes dependent on those of the U.S., both as a source of investment and as a market for its goods.In 2007, fDi magazine stated that Guadalajara has the second strongest economic potential of any major North American city, behind only Chicago.The same research noted Guadalajara as a «city of the future» due to its youthful population, low unemployment and large number of recent foreign investment deals; it was found to be the third most business-friendly city in North America.The city has to compete with China, especially for electronics industries which rely on high volume and low wages. This has caused it to move toward high-mix, mid-volume and value-added services, such as automotives. However, its traditional advantage of proximity to the U.S. market is one reason Guadalajara stays competitive.Mexico ranked third in 2009 in Latin America for the export of information technology services, behind Brazil and Argentina. This kind of service is mostly related to online and telephone technical support. The major challenge this sector has is the lack of university graduates who speak English.

Most of the economy revolves around commerce, employing 60% of the population. This activity has mainly focused on the purchase and sale of the following products: food and beverages, textiles, electronic appliances, tobacco, cosmetics, sport articles, construction materials and others. Guadalajara's commercial activity is second only to Mexico City.Globalization and neoliberal reforms have affected the form and distribution of commerce in Guadalajara since the early 1990s. This has led to tensions between traditional markets, such as the Mercardo Libertad, and retailers such as department stores and supermarkets. Local governments in the metropolitan area used to invest in and heavily regulate traditional markets but this is no longer the case. It hosts art exhibits and fashion shows, and has an area for cultural workshops. Anchor stores include Liverpool and Sears and specialty stores such as Hugo Boss, Max Mara and Lacoste, Tesla MotorsCostco.

Best Buy opened its first Guadalajara store here. It has an additional private entrance on the top floor of the adjacent parking lot. Another Best Buy store was inaugurated in Ciudadela Lifestyle Center mall, which was the chain's third-largest in the world, according to the company. Andares is another important commercial center in Zapopan. This $530 million mixed-use complex opened in 2008, designed by renowned Mexican Sordo Madaleno architecture firm features luxury residences and a high-level mall anchored by two large department stores, Liverpool and El Palacio de Hierro. The 133,000 m2 mall offers hundreds of stores, a big food court located on the second floor and several restaurants at the Paseo Andares.

A large segment of the commercial sector caters to tourists and other visitors. Recreational tourism is mainly concentrated in the historic downtown. In addition to being a cultural and recreational attraction and thanks to its privileged geographical location, the city serves as an axis to nearby popular beach destinations such as Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo and Mazatlán.Other types of visitors include those who travel to attend seminars, conventions and other events in fields such as academic, entertainment, sports and business.

Business Environment

Most of Guadalajara's economic growth since 1990 has been tied with foreign investment. International firms have invested here to take advantage of the relatively cheap but educated and highly productive labor, establishing manufacturing plants that re-export their products to the United States, as well as provide goods for the internal Mexican market.A media report in early October 2013 stated that five major Indian IT companies have established offices in Guadalajara, while several other Indian IT companies continue to explore the option of expanding to Mexico. Due to the competitiveness in the Indian IT sector, companies are expanding internationally and Mexico offers an affordable opportunity for Indian companies to better position themselves to enter the United States market. The trend emerged after 2006 and the Mexican government offered incentives to foreign companies.Exports from the city went from US$3.92 billion in 1995 to 14.3 billion in 2003. Guadalajara is the distribution center for the region and its demands have led to a shifting of employment, from traditional agriculture and crafts to manufacturing and commerce in urban centers. This has led to mass migration from the rural areas to the metropolitan area.

The tech rise of Guadalajara had taken decades to incubate. Starting in the 1960s and continuing through the 1980s, a number of foreign companies—including Kodak, Motorola, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Siemens—placed some of their manufacturing operations in Guadalajara. Guadalajara grew as a manufacturing hub for technological products but this changed in the last decade when it was able to position itself as a city of innovation thanks to its top-notch development centers. HP invested in data, Intel in design and research and opened a company in Zapopan and Lenovo set up a company. Aside from the big multinationals, Guadalajara also hosts many technology entrepreneurs and start-ups. In 2010, for instance, Sean Knapp and the brothers Bismarck and Belsasar Lepe -ex Google- founded Ooyala, an online video company.

In 2012 Guadalajara won a bid for the seat of Digital Creative City, a project organized by ProMéxico, a public agency dedicated to promoting foreign investment in the country, with the support of the federal government and technology entrepreneurs.

Infrastructure

Guadalajara is well connected by modern highways to Mexico City, to the northwest and to the major beach resorts of Manzanillo, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta. The main highways are Fed 15, which connects the city northwestward to Nogales, Sonora, via Tepic, Nayarit and eastwards to Mexico City via Morelia. Fed 80D leads northwest toward Aguascalientes, and Fed 54D leads southward to the coast via Colima.

The city is served by the Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport, also known as Guadalajara International Airport opened in 1966. It is 16 km south of downtown Guadalajara, and it was built on the Tlajomulco de Zuñiga city, way down to Chapala. The Guadalajara light rail/metro system, named SITEUR , Spanish for Urban Electrical Train System, provides rapid transit service within Guadalajara and the neighboring municipalities of Zapopan and Tlaquepaque. It consists of two lines: line 1, running from north to south, with 19 stations, and line 2, running from downtown to the east, with 10 stations. The trains are electric and have a top speed of 70 km/h . Currently there are 48 articulated cars in service,[ built in Mexico by Concarril/Bombardier. Construction of a third line began in 2014. Line 3 will run from Zapopan, in the northwest, to Tlaquepaque and Tonalá, in the southeast, via the city center.The Guadalajara Macrobus is a public transportation system based on the concept of Bus Rapid Transit, where buses run in lanes specifically for them and have stations for boarding. The Guadalajara trolleybus system has been operating since the 1970s, and there are private companies operating regular city buses. It also has a bustling network of pedestrianised streets.

Mi Bici Pública, PBSC Urban Solutions-based public bike share system, was launched in 2014. In 2016, the city implemented 242 docking stations and 2116 bikes. As of September 2018 Mi Bici has 19,664 annual subscribed users.The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Guadalajara, such as to and from work, on weekdays is 82 min. 23% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 15 min, while 22% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day.

The city is home to the University of Guadalajara (1925), one of the largest institutions of higher education in Mexico, and the Autonomous University of Guadalajara (1935). The military schools of aviation (1915), air force specialists (1934), supply and maintenance (1942), and signals (1920) are in suburban Zapopan.

Technology

Guadalajara is Mexico’s tech hub and is home to big names such as Intel, IBM and Oracle, all companies attracted by its young, qualified workforce. The city has also developed an impressive startup culture. Organizations such as Hackers & Founders and iTuesdays regularly put entrepreneurs in touch with investors. Guadalajara is even poised to profit from US President Donald Trump’s plans to restrict visas for workers from abroad, with some local companies expecting an influx of foreign talent that would otherwise head to California.

The electronics and information technology sectors that have nicknamed the city the "Silicon Valley of Mexico". Guadalajara is the main producer of software, electronic and digital components in Mexico. Telecom and computer equipment from Guadalajara accounts for about a quarter of Mexico's electronics exports. Companies such as General Electric, IBM, SANMINA, Intel Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor, Hitachi Ltd., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc, Siemens, Flextronics, Oracle, Wipro, TCS, Cognizant Technology Solutions and Jabil Circuit have facilities in the city or its suburbs. This phenomenon began after the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). International firms started building facilities in Mexico, especially Guadalajara, displacing Mexican firms, especially in information technology. One of the problems this has created is that when there are economic downturns, these international firms scale back. Guadalajara was selected as "Smart City" in 2013 by IEEE, the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology.

Several cities invest in the areas of research to design pilot projects and as an example, in early March in 2013 was the first "Cluster Smart Cities " in the world, composed Dublin, Ireland; San José, California; Cardiff, Wales, and Guadalajara, Jalisco, whose objective is the exchange of information and experiences that can be applied in principle to issues of agribusiness and health sciences. The Secretariat of Communications and Transportation also reported that Guadalajara, Jalisco was chosen as the official venue for the first "Digital Creative City of Mexico and Latin America", what will be the spearhead for our country to consolidate the potential in this area.

The "Cluster Smart Cities" unprecedented in the world, will focus on what each of these cities is making in innovation and the creation of an alliance to attract technology. The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (SICyT ) of Jalisco, said the combination of talent development investments allow Jalisco to enter the "knowledge economy". From 25 to 28 October 2015, the city was the venue for the first conference of the Smart Cities Initiative.

Guadalajara is served by an international airport. It is linked by railroad and highway with several cities, including the main western routes between Mexico City to the east-southeast and the southwestern United States border (at Nogales, Arizona) to the northwest. Lake Chapala, some 30 miles (50 km) south of the city, is Mexico’s most extensive lake, but it has been shrinking as its source waters have been increasingly diverted.

Social Wellness and Human Resources

The most current figures by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography , confirmed in 2010, the municipality of Guadalajara has a population of approximately 1 495 189, with a population in the metropolitan area of. 4 334,878, the most populous city in the state of Jalisco, the most conurbation-highest-population within the province of Jalisco. of the Guadalajara metropolitan area, and the second most populous city in Mexico; the first is Mexico City.

In 2007, the United Nations listed the world's 100 most populous urban agglomerations. Mexico excelled with three cities on the list: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Guadalajara ranked 66th in these cities, followed by Sydney and Washington, D.C. On the Latin American list, Guadalajara ranked 10th. The municipality of Guadalajara is located in the center of the State, a little to the east, at coordinates 20-&36' 40« to 20- 45' 00» north latitude and 103- 16' 00« to 103- 24' 00» west-latitude and 103-&16' 00« to 103- 24' 00» west-west longitude, at a height of 1700 meters above sea level.

The municipality of Guadalajara is bounded to the north by Zapopan and Ixtlahuacán del Río, to the east by Tonalá ' Tonalá and Zapotlanejo, to the south with Tlaquepaque and to the west with Zapopan.

The second most populous metropolitan area in the country. It is composed of 6 central and 3 exterior municipalities.The growth of the city is due to Guadalajara has grown and was awarded the closest communities. Its historic center houses colonial buildings of a religious and civil character, which stand out for their architectural and historical significance, and constitute a rich mixture of styles whose root is found in indigenous cultural contributions , and later in modern European influences . The historic centre also has an excellent infrastructure of museums, theatres, galleries, libraries, auditoriums and concert halls. Some of these buildings date from the sixteenth and seventeenth century, such as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, among others. In terms of media, the city has several radio stations focused on culture, being [Red Radio University of Guadalajara one of the most important and the one that is transmitted to the rest of the state and neighboring states and internationally through the Internet; it is also the first broadcaster via PodCast in the country, the city produces a fully cultural channel; XHGJG-TV dedicated to support, dissemination, and cultural entertainment and broadcast on open television, Guadalajara being the only city to produce a cultural cutting channel in the country in addition to the Mexico, D.F.A. Mexico City. Guadalajara publishes the most important cultural magazine in the country. This city has been the cradle and dwelling of distinguished poets, writers, painters, actors, film directors and representatives of the arts, etc., such as José Clemente Orozco, Dr. Atl, Roberto Montenegro, Alejandro Zohn, Luis Barragán, Carlos Orozco Romero, Federico Fabregat, Raul Anguiano, Juan Soriano, Javier Campos Cabello, Martha Pacheco, Alejandro Colunga, José Fors, Juan Kraeppellin, Davis Birks, Carlos Vargas Pons, Jis, Trino, Erandini, Enrique Oroz, Rubén Méndez, Mauricio Toussaint, Scott Neri, Paula Santiago, Edgar Cobian, L. Felipe Manzano, and ; the freeplay guitarist and music composer for the movies El Mariachi and The Legend of Zorro, Paco Rentería; important exponents of literature such as Juan Rulfo, Francisco Rojas, Agustín Yáñez, Elías Nandino, Idella Purnell, Jorge Souza, among others; classic repertoire composers such as Gonzalo Curiel, José Pablo Moncayo, Antonio Navarro, Ricardo Zohn, Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez and Gabriel Pareyon; film directors such as Felipe Cazals, Jaime Humberto Hermosillo, Erik Stahl, Guillermo del Toro; and actors such as Katy Jurado, Enrique Alvarez Felix, and Gael García Bernal. Guadalajara was the first Mexican city to be accepted as a member of the International Association of Educational Cities due to its strong character and identity, potential for economic development through culture. Regularly the best mariachis in Mexico participate, such as Mariachi Vargas, Mariachi de América and Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano. Mariachi bands from all over the world participate, coming from countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Belgium, Chile, France, Australia, Slovak Republic, Canada and the United States.A recent innovation has been the fusion of mariachi melodies and instruments with rock and roll performed by rock musicians in the Guadalajara area. An album collecting a number of these melodies was produced called «Mariachi Rock-O». There are plans to take these bands on tour in Mexico, the United States and Europe.The city is also host to several dance and ballet companies such as the Chamber Ballet of Jalisco, the Folkloric Ballet of the University of Guadalajara, and University of Guadalajara Contemporary Ballet. The city is home to a renowned symphony orchestra. The Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco was founded by José Rolón in 1915. It held concerts from that time until 1924, when state funding was lost. However, the musicians kept playing to keep the orchestra alive. This eventually caught the attention of authorities and funding was restated in 1939.