TOURISM GENTRIFICATION IN PUEBLA’S CITY HISTORIC DOWNTOWN

Abstract

Gentrification presents itself in different aspects in each city and in each one of its boroughs, determining varieties of this model. In this article, the analysis is presented of the process and paradigm of gentrification that has been envolving in the historic downtown of Puebla City, México via the tourism promotion of the monuments zone. For this, public policies have focused in the add on of value for this centrality with actions of urban renovation and the substitution and mixticity of the land that used to be destined for the tourism industry. Another generator has been the real-estate market focused in investing in the tourism sector in areas previously intervened by the state.

In previous decades the historic downtown of Puebla had become gradually deserted, their residents emigrated to new neighborhoods outside the city, forcing the catalogued houses to become slum houses, shops or even hardwares. Over time, zero maintenance, rains and earthquakes, deteriorated the old houses, creating vulnerable zones within the central area of the city.