Is blanqueamiento (whitening) an emerging concept in urban transformation?

Abstract

The concept of “whitening” has emerged as a tool to describe processes of invisibilizing local social practices in favor of affluent, often white, foreign populations within Mexico City's central urban transformation. This article critically examines the relevance of whitening as an analytical framework compared to more established, albeit sometimes ambiguous, terms such as “gentrification”. The discussion focuses on three key areas: the impoverishment of urban vocabulary; the adaptation of foreign concepts in Latin America; and the limits of whitening as a concept. This comment argues that while whitening captures significant racial dynamics in urban transformations, its conceptual development is still nascent, making it insufficient to encompass the broader socioeconomic dimensions covered by gentrification. Unlike gentrification, which has been adapted to Latin American contexts to capture diverse forms of displacement and exclusion, whitening has yet to undergo such adaptation and remains limited in its geographic and temporal application. Additionally, the article discusses the risk of fragmenting urban discourse through the creation of neologisms that overlap with more established concepts. Whitening may offer valuable insights into racial aspects of urban change, but its application remains restricted compared to the more encompassing and versatile framework of gentrification, which addresses economic, demographic, and cultural changes in a comprehensive manner.