At least 51 organizations of inhabitants of the Historic Center and other neighborhoods of the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office demanded that the government of Mexico City suspend the alliance with the Airbnb platform and Unesco Mexico that seeks to promote the city as a center of creative tourism and for digital nomads.
After this alliance will be announced, the organizations asked the administration of Claudia Sheinbaum to make public the diagnosis and evaluation that was made regarding the impact of Airbnb-type platforms on access to housing in the City and if it does not have it, to carry it out.
“Suspend collaboration with Airbnb until we have a public diagnosis and prevention and mitigation measures for their impact on access to housing,” they asked.
In a statement, the organizations indicated that in the Historic Center and in several parts of the city there has been an increase in rents and that the Airbnb platform is “one of the actors that most exacerbate these problems.”
They explained that in at least eight residential buildings there were processes of expulsion of inhabitants to cede them to Airbnb, which are located in the streets Justo Sierra, San Ildefonso, López, Revillagigedo, Bolívar, Isabel la Católica and Luis Moya.
“In the Historic Center we have seen the harmful effects of this platform and how it affects both the popular sectors and the middle class… Many other neighbors have already been expelled from other buildings with the same pretext: to give territory to tourism, “they said.
As part of the organizations’ demands, they requested an inclusive housing program (PRUVI) for the allocation of housing for families or individuals who have been “forcibly displaced by Airbnb or gentrification.”
Read: ‘We lost almost everything in weeks’: Airbnb in COVID-19 crisis
They asked that the city have a “tenant law” that counterbalances speculation and financialization of urban land, to control the increase in the rent of a home and generate balance between landlords and tenants.
In addition, they demanded that the City government clearly regulate the payment of Airbnb taxes and that it be made retroactive for all the years that the company has operated in the country.
They also call for a review of legislation and measures that other cities and countries have taken to regulate and regulate the company Airbnb and apply them in the city.
“Without clear regulation that puts a limit on Airbnb and similar platforms, financial speculation will end up devouring the already few affordable spaces to rent,” they said.
They also requested that, in the face of the crisis of displacements, evictions and dispossessions, that the Congress of Mexico City legislate measures in favor of tenants that guarantee the prevalence in the city and prevent their expulsion.
📢COMMUNIQUÉ.
More than 50 organizations and more than 830 activists, and neighbors of Cdmx signed the following petition to the @GobiernoMX against the agreement with the company Airbnb.
🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘🏘 #DerechoALaVivienda #DerechoALaCiudad
👇 pic.twitter.com/J2n3ckpYYF
— Carla Escoffié (@kalycho) October 29, 2022
Alliance of CDMX and Airbnb
On Wednesday, the government of Mexico City announced an alliance with the Airbnb platform and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to promote CDMX as a digital tourism center, attractive for foreigners looking to stay connected to work remotely while traveling the world. known as “digital nomads”.
But after this announcement, specialists in urbanity and housing issues warn that the boost to short-stay rentals with platforms such as Airbnb will increase rental costs in the capital and could cause the expulsion of tenants in areas attractive to tourism.
Read: ‘Live and work from anywhere’: Airbnb will allow all its employees to work remotely indefinitely
In addition, they point out that the lack of measures that accompany the promotion of tourism in areas without adequate and sufficient infrastructure for commercial activity could affect mobility, access to services such as water and even security.
During the presentation, the head of Government, Claudia Sheinbaum, denied that this Airbnb initiative will raise the prices of real estate rentals.
However, he pointed out that it is being reviewed if there is an impact on the cost of rent in areas where digital nomads are arriving, such as Condesa, Roma or other neighborhoods of the Cuauhtémoc mayor’s office, or is it the impact of the pandemic and inflation worldwide.
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