Gentrification in Mexico

Resistance to foreign gentrification in Mexico

Jorge Alberto Cervantes Urbiola

UPAEP

ING 117 Global Perspectives

Maestro Juan Gaspar Hernandez

Summer 2022
Gentrification in Mexico

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the gentrification of Mexico by the growing waves

of U.S. immigration in local communities and its impact on working-class neighborhoods from a

cultural perspective taking into account the concepts of the inclusive and sustainable city, neo-

colonialism, cultural landscape, and acculturation to provide greater clarity on the implications of

remote work in Mexico City by young middle-class Americans and the insufficient integration of

foreigners in San Miguel de Allende.

Keywords: housing, inequality, foreigner, working-class, landlord, resistance

Gentrification in Mexico

Resistance to foreign gentrification in Mexico

In the last few years, gentrification has become a serious issue in some cities of Mexico.

Natives have had to abandon their homes due to the high price increases in working-class

neighborhoods. The main cause of gentrification is the arrival of middle-class foreigners to the

United States and Europe, and the landlords have taken advantage of their arrival to modernize the

zones in order to raise rents. The right to housing has been set aside, so, the owners of the buildings

can continue to make profits. In this essay, I seek to make a cultural analysis of this situation from

the perspective of acculturation, cultural geography, postcolonialism, and taking into account point

11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goal.

The Case

About the Community

Talking about gentrification in Mexico is to talk about Mexico City and San Miguel de

Allende. In both cities, local communities have been displaced from their homes and then locals

go to work in the center of the city but have to come back to home the periphery (Flores & Guerra,

2016, pág. 183). Mexico is being transformed into an expensive-cities country bit by bit. In Mexico

City, only between 2020 and 2021, apartment rent prices increased by 30 porcent (Goytia, 2022) and

San Miguel de Allende has located itself as an attractive city for middle-class foreigners, retirees,

and young artists.

On one hand, residents of The Trevi, an apartment building with a cafeteria on the ground

floor ubicated in Mexico City, found ways to resist gentrification by organizing musical and artistic

events in the cafeteria and creating a committee to negotiate with the landlord and the companies

interested to purchase the building in order to make a deal where The Trevis’ residents might be
Gentrification in Mexico

able to acquire the property. On the other hand, the local community of San Miguel de Allende

has experienced radical gentrification, (i.e., bars, restaurants, and cantinas managed by

Americans). Even if the majority of foreigners try to integrate themselves into the culture of the

local community, their residence changes the socioeconomic dynamics affecting natives.

The Problem

According to Oxford English Dictionary, gentrification is the process of improving an area

of a town or city so that it attracts people of a higher social class than before, but this process

means forcing the local community, usually the working-class population, to move to the suburbs

or a neighborhood with less quality of life. In all this context there are two ways how gentrification

happens; the first way is by the arrival of multinational companies such as Starbucks or Airbnb

that transform the socioeconomic environment and replace local businesses. The second one is the

trend to remote work from the U.S. in Mexico because it is cheaper to live in Mexico with an

American salary, this means not integration into the economy by foreigners but proof of inequality

among natives.

Cultural Analysis

For the purpose of this essay, it is fundamental to analyze the whole case since cultural

approaches in order to reach a better understanding of how gentrification works, its implications

for the inequality in Mexican society, and the ways in which residents resist gentrification. The

GP analytical approaches I will use are next ones: acculturation, cultural geography, and

postcolonialism.
Gentrification in Mexico

About the GP Approach

• Acculturation: I would like to define acculturation as a process where two or more cultures

interact in the same space and as a result of that interaction(s) is produced a transformation

in the relation between the cultures establishing either an integration/assimilation or a

separation/marginalization of one cultural group to the other one. In a proper meaning, one

culture is acculturated around another culture, a base culture.

• Cultural geography: Through the landscape of a place or a city it is possible to know about

the social features and cultural aspects of the area and the community living there. For

example, the changes and restorations that have taken place in the territory tell us a lot

about the cultural history of a place, and even within cities, cultural geography includes the

different contact zones in which different cultural groups interact.

• Postcolonialism: This term refers to the relations between dominant countries and

subordinate countries since it would be very complicated to affirm that we live in a world

completely free of colonialism, in a post-colonial era strictly speaking. Conquest has

ceased to be explicit since today many formerly conquered peoples enjoy a certain cultural

and social freedom, but politically and economically the countries of the global south

remain "colonies".

Implications for the Case

In the precise case of gentrification in Mexico, the strategy of acculturation varies from

area to area. In San Miguel de Allende, Americans mainly seek integration into the local

community, they bring with them the intention to contribute, but they have caused the

displacement and replacement of local businesses due to the greater concentration of capital,

resources, and social status that foreigners possess. Thus, rather than generating a genuine
Gentrification in Mexico

integration, the foreigners produced a separation or marginalization of the natives of the town. In

Mexico City, the strategy has been to separate the American middle class from the Mexican

working class by appropriating the area with the help of the landlords.

The changes to the landscape that gentrified areas undergo are evident. Buildings are

restored to look more modern and cared, then prices are raised and the atmosphere of the

neighborhood is modified to make it more friendly to foreigners to assimilate them to the middle-

class areas of their countries but with a Mexican vibe, i.e., advertisements and signs are in English.

“The responsibility isn’t directly on American or European tourists, but there is a colonial logic

behind it,” (Acuña, 2022). These practices of coming to work remotely without any real integration

into society can be considered a form of neo-colonialism. Just as centuries ago cities were built

thinking that one zone was for the colonizers and the other for the colonized, we have returned to

that practice where foreigners enjoy good neighborhoods while the working class is the one who

works in those areas but does not live there.

SDGs: Global Impact of the Case

Point 11 of the UN Sustainable Development Goal establish to make cities and human

settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. A city with these characteristics must

advocate for the well-being of all sectors, but fundamentally of the popular sectors. An inclusive

and safe city is one that guarantees a decent quality of life for its citizens and workers. Issues such

as decent housing, quality transportation services, sustainable infrastructure, or maintaining

natural spaces are objectives that cities should have according to point 11 of SDG.
Gentrification in Mexico

Thus, a city that seeks to be inclusive and sustainable must eliminate gentrification. The

problem of gentrification goes beyond just rising housing prices, but also involves other elements

of urban areas such as transportation, infrastructure, and public spaces i.e., parks or malls. “So far,

no legislation in Mexico seeks to regulate the disproportionate rise in rental prices, while other

countries like the Netherlands do have this regulation in place. " (Goytia, 2022)

Lessons Learned

Gentrification is not a problem isolated from other struggles in the global south. While the

arrival of foreigners aggravates the situation, the root of the problem lies in the tremendous

inequality in this region of the world. In other words, gentrification is due to the fact that by having

two very unequal sectors in which the purchasing power is different, those who have more capital

can take over better neighborhoods and adapt them to their lifestyle, while the lower classes have

to settle to live on the periphery.

Solving the problem of gentrification is neither simple nor easy, but I believe that there are

at least two general ways to stop the problem: first, fight against inequality, that is, close the

economic gap that is so marked in Mexico. Second, regulate housing in order to guarantee the right

to housing to local and native communities.

Gentrification in Mexico

References

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Gentrification in Mexico

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