MEXICO CITY

For the past month, residents of Mexico City have mobilized across the capital to denounce gentrification -- a growing crisis that is forcing locals out of their neighborhoods and making housing accessible only to the wealthy.

While marches and demonstrations demanding better housing conditions are not new, this movement marks a turning point. It centers around a global phenomenon driven by financial speculation, real estate development and the forced displacement of local communities, sparking two large-scale protests in recent weeks.

"There has been a housing crisis in Mexico for decades, and it's obviously been getting worse," Carla Escoffie, a housing rights lawyer and published author, said in an interview with Anadolu.

"What we’re seeing now is that after 50 years in which we essentially had a real estate policy rather than a housing policy, all the absences and deficiencies have led to a decrease in homeownership, an increase in the renter population, and a rise in issues such as forced evictions, gentrification, tourism-driven displacement and other related problems," she added.

A rollback on housing construction, deregulation of real estate development firms and investment in high-end residential complexes have ultimately led to a surge in prices and the ousting of residents to the outskirts of the city.

Over the past three years, rental prices in Mexico City have skyrocketed -- increasing by over 110% in some neighborhoods. Rents now average above $900 per month for a two-bedroom apartment, while monthly wages hover around $400. In some demarcations, rental prices have surpassed $2,500.

For instance, the Cuauhtemoc borough, one of the most prominent districts in the city and where the first anti-gentrification protest took place in early July, averages over $1,000 in rental prices. Once a traditional neighborhood, it has become a hotspot for international tourists and foreign investors. Nearly half of all Airbnb listings in the city are located within this borough.

"Housing has become financialized -- it's now treated as a financial asset," said Escoffie. "Global economies are increasingly dependent on real estate speculation and the use of housing as an investment vehicle."

Speaking to Anadolu, Vosmar, a college student who attended last Sunday’s march, shared his concerns about gentrification slowly reaching his neighborhood.

"Gentrification has resulted in an unfair displacement of the Mexican population. Priority has been given to foreigners -- especially Americans. We see that rents are unaffordable, given the wages here in Mexico, and so we’re being pushed out of those areas," he said.

However, the march has also come under fire for some of the demands presented by different factions of the movement—namely the regulation or even expulsion of foreigners, especially US citizens, who occupy housing in the city.

President Claudia Sheinbaum addressed the issue during a press conference, condemning the xenophobic undertones of the calls for action against foreigners.

The demonstrators -- mostly young workers and students -- took over La Avenida de los Insurgentes, one of the city’s major thoroughfares, for the second protest.

While Tlalpan, the southern district where the second march was held, hasn’t yet seen the same levels of gentrification as Cuauhtemoc, new real estate developments have begun appearing in recent years.

Anadolu spoke with Maria Elizabeth Alvarez Rezendiz, a key organizer of the anti-gentrification march and member of the People of Xoco Assembly -- a small, historic community in southern Mexico City under threat from luxury real estate projects.

"These megaprojects the government is bringing to Mexico City are very aggressive -- not just for one neighborhood, but for all of us. They’re for the entire city," she said.

"The government is behind more than 600 development projects. They're very aggressive -- they take our water, cut down our trees, destroy nature. And who gives them their permits? The government."

Alvarez’s community, Xoco, is fighting the Torre Mitikah development -- a massive luxury real estate project including apartments, shopping centers and office buildings. Its centerpiece is now the tallest skyscraper in the city. Residents say the project has already led to deforestation in the area and contamination of local water supplies.

People like Elizabeth are left with few options: resist displacement or be forced out.

According to the draft of the General Program for Territorial Planning of Mexico City 2020–2035, more than 20,000 low-income households are pushed out of the city each year due to a lack of affordable housing. Despite being displaced, many continue working and relying on services in Mexico City, resulting in over 1.5 million daily commutes from the outskirts into the capital.

Moreover, 60% of the city’s population currently lives in overcrowded conditions, according to government data.

"This is a matter of social justice. It’s a form of systematic violence that not only worsens people’s living conditions but also represents symbolic violence," said Carlos Vazquez, a university professor in Mexico City in the march.

"It’s about lack of access to health care, education and work -- it deteriorates life on every level and in every dimension."

In response to the growing movement, Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada announced 14 policy measures aimed at reversing the city’s gentrification crisis.

"I’m certain that this fight against gentrification cannot be led by the government or local authorities alone, nor can it be carried out solely by residents," Brugada said at a press conference on July 16. "We need broad participation to help us confront these dynamics of displacement. We must understand the phenomenon in order to address it."

Among the measures are tighter rent controls, including caps on increases tied to inflation, the creation of rental price indexes, and the proposal of new laws to regulate rental pricing. The government also pledged to expand public housing initiatives and implement stricter regulations on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb.

Despite these promises, many residents say government action has been slow, and they now face the difficult choice of relocation or resistance.

Anadolu reached out to Mexico City government officials for a response, but as of the publication of this story, they have not responded.

"Whenever we talk about gentrification, we’re talking about a problem — we’re talking about dispossession," Escoffie emphasized.

"Gentrification is a process of inequality. This inequality operates through power relations between different actors. It begins with economic and political power disparities between local people and those with greater purchasing power who displace lower-income residents from their own city."