Ciudad de México, quince años de desarrollo urbano intensivo: la gentrificación percibida

Abstract

Fifteen years of intensive urban development have given rise to exclusive and exclusionary urban landscapes in the central areas of Mexico City. Obsolete industrial districts, derelict urban land and relatively abandoned and well-connected middle and lower-class neighborhoods –which have been regarded by authorities as “run-down areas” – are some of the areas that have benefited the most from public and private investment. This paper explores the perception of local residents, caputured in an extensive survey conducted with more than 3,000 inhabitants in August 2014 from 10 central areas, about the transformation and gentrification of their neighbourhoods –which have been subject to real estate pressure. This research: a) describes the theoretical references and methodological strategies developed throughout the research, b) analyzes the intensive urban development and the increase in investment, presence of international real estate firms and public megaprojects; and c) studies the perception of dwellers about the transformation and gentrification of neighborhoods after a decade and a half of “sustainable” urban development, which has led to the reinforcement of historical socio-spatial inequality in central urban areas and the transformation of the urban and social landscape as the result of the emergence of exclusive central neighborhoods.