Researcher notes that lodging applications have reactivated the area by offering spaces in 65 luxury homes…//
The researcher at the Center for Regional Research (CIR) of the Uady, Claudia Dávila Valdés, said that the migration of foreigners to the Historic Center of Mérida, mainly North Americans and Europeans, significantly impacts the Santiago neighborhood, which has generated a change in urban dynamics and services, as well as new forms of coexistence that are not exempt from conflicts.
During her lecture “Migrations of lifestyle of the Santiago neighborhood in Mérida”, at the International Seminar of Historic Centers, the researcher pointed out that since 1980 began an important arrival of North Americans to this area of the city, and they restored properties abandoned in the 1950s, which is why it is currently a heterogeneous urban area.
“From those years to date, the neighborhood of Santiago undergoes a transformation as a wellness area and makes new social dynamics emerge, generating spaces for coexistence for foreigners, such as bookstores, coffee shops, restaurants and art galleries; even elite social circles have been formed that organize parties and meetings attended only by members of the foreign community,” she said.
The researcher pointed out that in her studies on migration in this historic neighborhood there is a strong impact from the phenomenon of applications that offer accommodation, such as Airbnb, which in the mentioned area provides spaces in 65 properties, of which only three are hotels.
She also noted that his research shows that in 19 blocks of Santiago neighborhood 226 uninhabited and 290 occupied poperties can be located; As for the population in these blocks there are 808 inhabitants, of which 317 are over 60 years of age, between foreigners and locals.
Before this urban panorama, Claudia Dávila Valdés pointed out that for the municipal authorities this phenomenon brings benefits in the economic field, in the emergence of new social relations, innovative environmental concepts, such as tree-planting along sidewalks and restoring houses that were previously abandoned.
Text: Jorge Euán
Photos: Juliana Sepúlveda
