Gentrification, symbolism and power in historical centers: Querétaro city, Mexico

Abstract

Gentrification is usually analyzed as the economical and physical processes leading to the replacement of a traditional low income resident population by people with greater economic capacity. The paper argues that the production of space is not only a process of material transformation but also a symbolic one. Applied to the case study of Barrio La Cruz, in the historic center of the city of Queretaro, Mexico, the paper aims to demonstrate that urban experience of residents is affected by interventions at various levels that affect their perception of the neighborhood in the visual, smell, touch, sound and taste dimensions. This new synesthetic experience, radically different from the traditional one, open the door to the desappropiation of the district by its traditional residents and the imposition of new lifestyles which act powerfully on the neighborhood and amplify the material negative effects of gentrification.