For a capital with such a long and layered history, there is much that’s new in Mexico City. Skyscrapers grow like bamboo. A trendy restaurant, boutique hotel or high-end food store seems to open every week. Despite the often dark national mood — corruption in Mexico seems ever more brazen, and violence, much of it drug-related, persists in many areas — the city has kept its mojo. There are extravagant plans for new pedestrian areas and a new airport, and the ZonaMaco art fair has become a must for international dealers. The city is still a place of contradictions and yawning inequality, with helipads for the rich and four-hour commutes for ordinary workers; pockets of Art Deco charm and miles of ugly sprawl; cutting-edge museums and schools without computers. But Mexico City is more cosmopolitan than ever, producing world-class chefs, artists and movie directors, and drawing talented Europeans and Latin Americans. In the age of the megalopolis, the Mexican capital is primed to bewitch and baffle, challenge and enchant.