The Reconquest of the Historic Centre: Urban Conservation and Gentrification in Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

This is one of the first studies evaluating the experience of gentrification in a developing country. The conservation of the historic centre of Puebla, Mexico, is analysed with particular attention to the uses to which renovated properties are put and the nature and motivations of the agents involved. Gentrification in Puebla constitutes the symbolic reconquest of a space over which the local middle classes feared they had lost moral authority. The class and ‘race’ symbolism of conservation and gentrification is emphasised.