Am I a Gentrifier? Exploring the Mechanics of Displacement.

By:  Ana Paula Jakob
School:  John F. Kennedy The American School of Queretaro

Gentrification is often reduced to the arrival of oat-milk lattes and avocado toast, but beneath the "aesthetic" lies a complex global shift in capital. As residents of Mexico with roots in Japan and South Korea, the students have analyzed two distinct engines driving urban change: the "invisible hand" of the global market in Mexico and the "iron fist" of state-led development in East Asia.

In this comparative analysis, the students created a podcast to move beyond the cliché of "neighborhood improvement" to look at the structural drivers, specifically how digital nomadism, real estate speculation, big international corporations and disparity are causing not just displacement and the disparition of different cultures, but the lack of identity and community.

Above all, they analyzed what we can do as individuals to preserve our sense of belonging in an alienated society.