page_title: Guadalajara
section_title: 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Guadalajara / History / 20th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Guadalajara, c. 1905
context_page_description: 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.
  Guadalajara is the tenth largest metropolitan area in Latin America and a major Latin American tech hub and financial center. 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.
context_section_description: Throughout the twentieth century, seeing growth in its industrial, tourist and service industries, Guadalajara began a period of rapid transformation into the metropolis it is today. The city would gain the second largest economy in Mexico, following only by Mexico City. After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, Guadalajara became the second most populous city in the country. However, the decades that followed brought a number of regional wars in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, and Guanajuato. The aftermath of the Great Depression took further toll on the city. Fortunately, by the 1940s the city would experience industrial, demographic, and trade growth.
  In 1910, the Mexican Revolution began, bringing an end to the Porfiriato. With conflict concentrated in the capital, Guadalajara experienced relative calm. After the Cristero Conflict, peace returned to Guadalajara and the city flourished, outgrowing its colonial roots. This period saw the birth of new schools of architecture that would decorate the city from the 1920s to the 1980s.
  Guadalajara again experienced substantial growth after the 1930s, and the first industrial park was established in 1947. Its population surpassed one million in 1964, and by the 1970s it was Mexico's second-largest city and the largest in western Mexico. Most of the modern city's urbanization took place between the 1940s and the 1980s, with the population doubling every ten years until it stood at 2.5 million in 1980. The population of the municipality has stagnated, and even declined, slowly but steadily, since the early 1990s.
  The increase in population brought with it an increase in the size of what is now called Greater Guadalajara, rather than an increase in the population density of the city. Migrants coming into Guadalajara from the 1940s to the 1980s were mostly from rural areas and lived in the city center until they had enough money to buy property. This property was generally bought in the edges of the city, which were urbanizing into fraccionamientos, or residential areas. In the 1980s, it was described as a "divided city" east to west based on socioeconomic class. Since then, the city has evolved into four sectors, which are still more or less class-centered. The upper classes tend to live in Hidalgo and Juárez in the northwest and southwest, while lower classes tend to live in the city center, Libertad in the northeast and southeast in Reforma. However, lower class development has developed on the city's periphery and upper and middle classes are migrating toward Zapopan, making the situation less neatly divided.
  Since 1996, the activity of multinational corporations has had a significant effect on the economic and social development of the city. The presence of companies such as Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and IBM has been based on production facilities built outside the city proper, bringing in foreign labor and capital. This was made possible in the 1980s by surplus labor, infrastructure improvements and government incentives. These companies focus on electrical and electronic items, which is now one of Guadalajara's two main products (the other being beer). This has internationalized the economy, steering it away from manufacturing and toward services, dependent on technology and foreign investment. This has not been favorable for the unskilled working class and traditional labor sectors.
  The 1992 Guadalajara explosions occurred on April 22, 1992, when gasoline explosions in the sewer system over four hours destroyed 8 km (5 mi) of streets in the downtown district of Analco. Gante Street was the most damaged. Officially, 206 people were killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 were left homeless. The estimated monetary damage ranges between $300 million and $1 billion. The affected areas can be recognized by their more modern architecture.
  Three days before the explosion, residents started complaining of a strong gasoline-like smell coming from the sewers. City workers were dispatched to check the sewers and found dangerously high levels of gasoline fumes. However, no evacua
caption: Central Guadalajara, circa 1905.
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