31 things about Santo Domingo that you didn't know

31 facts about one of the largest cosmopolitian cities in the Caribbean: Santo Domingo

1. Central Santo Domingo is the business epicenter of the city. Rapidly urbanizing, it was mostly composed of low-rise buildings and family homes until the late 1990s.

2. Central Santo Domingo’s Agora Mall is billed as the country’s first eco-friendly mall. Completed in 2012, it features 180 shops, 26 restaurants and eateries, a movie cinema and an indoor amusement park called Screamland.

3. Home to more than 60,000 residents, Central Santo Domingo’s Ensanche Piantini district has the lowest poverty rate in the city.

4. Santo Domingo is home to 13 skyscrapers above 300 feet in height. Ranging in from 328 feet to 591 feet, all have been built since 2003.

5. Carrefour is the second largest retail group in the world in revenue and profit after Walmart. As of June 2016, the French multinational retailer operates over 11,500 stores in more than 30 countries. In the Americas, Carrefour has a presence in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil.

6. Due to the establishment of industrial free trade zones, manufacturing employment in the Dominican Republic increased from 16,000 in 1980 to 180,000 by 1991. Today, 46.1% of goods exported from the Dominican Republic end up in the United States. Main exported products include sugar, gold, silver, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, ferronickel and consumer goods.

7. La Plaza España is the main square of Santo Domingo’s Colonial Zone. Many of the buildings surrounding it were once old warehouses and taverns that now feature restaurants, bars and nightlife.

Article and photographs by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com