Merida is experiencing the social phenomena of gentrification and migration intensely, since in the last few years a little more than 250,000 people have arrived from other parts of the country and from abroad to live in the “White City”.
This population growth in the Yucatecan capital represents a great challenge for Mayor Cecilia Patrón Laviada, to maintain peace and harmony in Merida.
In the opinion of Luis Amílcar Várguez Pasos, research professor at the Faculty of Anthropological Sciences at the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY), specific programs are required so that citizens can get rid of the tension of daily life and problems of different kinds.
The main challenges for Mayor Cecilia Patrón
The doctor in sociology said that the main challenges of the mayor are the same as those faced by other authorities in their respective areas.
And not only in Mexico but in the world, especially in Europe where there is a lot of migration because people are looking for better living conditions or looking for work that allows them to satisfy their immediate needs.
“Migration and gentrification are not challenges exclusive to Mérida, but have other dimensions because it is a voluntary migration, contrary to migration to the United States that is forced,” he said.
Dr. Várguez Pasos stressed that migration and gentrification (arrival of foreigners with other cultural expressions, who appropriate public spaces, buy properties, and transform the neighborhoods where they live) in some way come to alter the usual conditions of the people of Mérida.
But, he pointed out, the greatest challenge for the mayor remains the same for all authorities: to ensure the well-being of their citizens and guarantee decent living conditions.
Gentrification in Merida is not seen as a serious problem because foreigners and Mexicans who come to live here do so for the security and tranquility of the city, but they also come to do business because they see the growth and expansion of Merida.
There is a reconfiguration in the daily life of the neighborhoods and the city center because those who come have greater purchasing power than the Meridians, they buy houses and remodel them, and they create businesses in the places where they settle which generates jobs and a positive economic spill.
Dr. Várguez says that the effect of gentrification in the neighborhoods and the city center should be studied in depth, but he does not believe it is a serious problem. Looking at it from the economic perspective, it benefits people because it offers work.
Foreigners take over the beach in Yucatan
There have been many cases of foreigners who want to take over a part of the beach in Progreso, but this is always prevented by the local population.
“This type of abuse must be avoided, these programs must focus on achieving good coexistence, making them see that just because they come from Mexico City or abroad does not mean they are superior to the locals in any way,” concluded Luis Amílcar Várguez Pasos, research professor at the Faculty of Anthropological Sciences at UADY.
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