Gentrification for good in Mexico

Government could use the invisible hand of the market in unexpected ways.

Unfettered market forces drive gentrification in Mexico City. There is very little government regulation keeping an eye on the sort of speculation that drives up housing prices as wealthy digital nomads move into town and even wealthier local investors snap up accommodation to turn it into AirBnbs. 

The topic has been covered to no end since even before pandemic-era travel restrictions eased. The reasons are complex; the finger pointing is plentiful. But what if there were a social use to the forces behind gentrification?

Late last month, The Mexico Political Economist went on a walking tour with Mexico’s culture secretary, Alejandra Frausto, of the newly opened sections of Chapultepec Park. It’s the largest urban park in the Americas—almost twice as large as Central Park—but much of it was inaccessible to the public. That as until the government made Chapultepec a signature cultural policy, opening up new sections and “dignifying” parts that were the playground of Mexico’s political class (one section was formerly the Presidential residence), home to the country’s military-industrial complex, or underutilised private carve outs. All this has now been made public.

The only issue is, the public is nowhere to be found.