Geographers often view the plaza and its surrounding architecture as one of the most traditional and conservative aspects of the Latin American cultural landscape. However, the Latin American plaza is becoming Anglo Americanized due to increasingly international economic and cultural exchanges resulting from globalization. This paper reports changes in the types of businesses located adjacent to the plaza of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1907-2000. Careful study of land use history in Ponce's plaza demonstrates that multinational banks, fast food chains, and clothing stores are replacing local business establishments. Spatial succession is used as a conceptual framework to examine change over time in the ownership and function of buildings located adjacent to the plaza. Municipal tax records are used as a source of data to find the type and rate of change over several decades. The data reveal that in 1907 there was only one international business located adjacent to the plaza. By 2000, seven of the thirty two lots facing the plaza were occupied by international chain stores, and an additional nine lots contained locally owned businesses with English names. The most rapid change occurred between 1980 and 2000. The findings of this research indicate changes that may eventually occur in plazas throughout Latin America as historically distinct places become increasingly similar in their outward appearance due to globalization.
