IN-PERSON Lisbon Livable Cities. Section A

Abstract

The increasing migration of people from the Global North to cities in the Global South and local governments’ role in shaping and managing urban transformation, migration, and its impacts has been central to transnational gentrification. Accordingly, studies have primarily focused on how local development policies have created sites of privilege and exclusion for migrants and locals. However, little attention has been paid to the frameworks and policies governing and shaping international migration and its impacts on this process. Through a multilevel approach, this article analyzes and offers insights into how migration and urban regimes interact and shape the mobility and emplacement of migrants from affluent countries, influencing the gentrification process in Global South cities like Mexico City. Specifically, It examines the intersection of Mexico’s national migration policy and the Mexico City government’s urban development policies, enabling the migration of U.S. nationals into central neighborhoods, often displacing less affluent residents. The central question is how this intersection occurs and legitimizes structural inequalities that facilitate and constrain the mobility and emplacement of U.S migrants. By analyzing this dynamic, the article aims to reveal how policies at different levels reinforce global inequalities while shaping unequal urban socio-spatial relations. As such, it contributes to drawing attention to the growing yet often overlooked trend of north-south migration and the inequalities involved. Likewise, incorporating the underexplored role of migration policies into the analysis of transnational gentrification sheds light on how inequalities in migration play a crucial role in shaping and deepening socio-spatial urban divides, with significant implications for city development, migration management, and global inequalities.