Abstract
An extensive literature opposes the provision of property titles for the residents of informal settlements. One concern is that titling leads to commodification and the market-driven displacement of the original inhabitants. Another is that it propagates the ideology of private ownership, undermines collective solidarity and demobilises social movements. This article, based on observations from Mexico City and Guadalajara, finds little evidence of displacement but highlights the importance of location. It supports the view that formalisation undermines resistance, but argues that titling does so by meeting rather than creating the desire of the urban poor for private property and homeownership.
Highlights
The titling of properties in informal settlements has become a battleground of ideas
An extensive literature opposes the provision of property titles for the residents of informal settlements
The heterogeneous nature of San Jerónimo Aculco leads to its allocation to the “medium” social development category: one of 13 neighbourhoods in this category (Table 1). If this is the best evidence for gentrification of regularised areas available in Mexico City, it lends little support to the displacement-by-titling thesis
Summary
The titling of properties in informal settlements has become a battleground of ideas. The increase in renting over time is well recognised, but tenants and owners are generally from similar backgrounds (Gilbert & Varley, 1991); the apartment blocks in San Agustín showed no sign of being occupied by more affluent residents Another settlement expropriated in the 1970s lacked the apartment blocks, probably because it is in the relatively remote area of Cuautepec, almost surrounded by mountains marking the northern limit of the Federal District; again, it did not appear dramatically dissimilar from how it had been in the 1980s. The heterogeneous nature of San Jerónimo Aculco leads to its allocation to the “medium” social development category: one of 13 neighbourhoods in this category (Table 1) If this is the best evidence for gentrification of regularised areas available in Mexico City, it lends little support to the displacement-by-titling thesis. To interpret this as lack of interest in title is mistaken: people want public recognition of ownership, whatever their private arrangements (Varley, 2002, 2010)
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