Abstract
This article addresses the commodification of housing in Havana from 2011 onwards. It argues that the theories of gentrification and rent-gap can illuminate aspects of the transformation of the Cuban capital, even though these theories originated in capitalist urban contexts and that in Cuba the state is responsible for determining the value and ownership of land. The analysis of digital real estate ads on four platforms between 2012 and 2020 allows us to estimate the price and location of properties sold, their relationship to economic reinvestment in the central areas of the city, and how the geographic factors that define centrality are increasingly compromised by touristification and more generally by the commodification of housing. The urban transformations studied in this initial article on the real estate market and gentrification in the Cuban capital allow us to highlight that, on one hand, the transformation of housing into a commodity demonstrates the erosion of socialist values in urban production and, on the other, the creation of a real estate market in Havana has reinforced the connection of the Cuban city with transnational capitalist circulation. The article considers the economic and political context in which the market develops, then explains the methodology of big-small data in a context of limited access to information, followed by an analysis characterising Havana's market that examines the importance of spatial centrality and transnational flows of people and capital.
Highlights
International Journal of Cuban Studies 13.2 Winter 2021 market and gentrification in the Cuban capital allow us to highlight that, on one hand, the transformation of housing into a commodity demonstrates the erosion of socialist values in urban production and, on the other, the creation of a real estate market in Havana has reinforced the connection of the Cuban city with transnational capitalist circulation
There is a great need for housing, it begs the question of who can participate or invest in this market? One clue identified by several experts is the growth of the private sector on the island in recent decades, which has increased significantly since the 2011 Guidelines to encourage private investment, which were later enshrined in the 2019 Constitution
The high asking prices in central Havana, compared to the other municipalities, indicates that these central neighbourhoods are attractive to those who have the financial means to invest in them, which means that, due to market forces, the exchange value of housing has increased, and its use value reflects the demand of housing commodification
Summary
Her work in urban and social geography focuses on the links between mobility and urban production in the Americas. She is the author of a book Miami the Cuban, Geography of a Crossroad-City between the Americas (published in French in 2015) and published several articles about gentrification and urban revitalization policies in a critical perspective in Miami, Havana and Montreal. Regarding Cuba, he has worked alongside Violaine Jolivet since 2017 for the project “(Re)investing Havana”, mainly analysing and mapping data. He worked as an intern for the Group for the Integral Development of the Capital (GDIC) in Havana in 2020. His current interests include cities’ social and regional development, and macroeconomic degrowth
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