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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, John Bucksbaum, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of General Growth
Properties, Inc.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

a)       Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

b)       Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
by this report based on such evaluation; and

c)       Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting;
and

5.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of
directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

         a)       All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
         design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which
         are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
         record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

         b)       Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
         or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
         internal control over financial reporting.

Date: March 11, 2004

                                             /S/: John Bucksbaum
                                             -----------------------------------
                                             John Bucksbaum
                                             Chief Executive Officer