QCOSTARICA — Older residents of Santa Ana, Costa Rica, are experiencing gentrification, and its effects can be particularly challenging for this demographic, characterized by rising housing costs and the influx of higher-income residents, leading to displacement and social isolation for those who have deep roots in the community.
Over the past two decades, the canton of Santa Ana has transformed from the quiet farming town many remember to one of the epicenters of the country’s most rapid real estate development.
Towers, luxury condominiums, corporate centers, and shopping malls now define an urban landscape that reflects a profound transformation: a silent but evident process of gentrification.
– Advertisement –
This phenomenon, which was only recently discussed, has changed not only the canton’s physical environment but also its social and economic fabric.
An Accelerated Transformation
Since the 1990s, the canton of Santa Ana has been subject to intense real estate pressure. Its proximity to San José and its direct connection to Escazú, Route 27, and high-profile free trade zones have made it fertile ground for residential development aimed at upper-middle- and high-income sectors, both domestic and foreign.
According to data from the Instituto Nacional de Vivienda y Urbanismo (INVU) – National Institute of Housing and Urban Development, Santa Ana is among the cantons with the highest urban land appreciation in the last decade.
Furthermore, recent real estate sector studies place it among the cantons with the highest prices per square meter in the entire country.
– Advertisement –
What is gentrification?
Gentrification is an urban process in which areas traditionally inhabited by low or middle-income people undergo transformation through private investment that raises land values and attracts more affluent sectors. As a result, original residents struggle to remain in their current location due to the rising cost of living.
In Santa Ana, this phenomenon manifests itself in multiple ways: from the displacement of families who can no longer afford rent to the transformation of traditional streets into high-density urban axes.
Between progress and exclusion
– Advertisement –
The areas of the Pozos, Uruca, and Lindora districts are clear examples of the canton’s new face.
Vertical developments, luxury shops, private clinics, and designer cafes proliferate in them. But there are also tensions.
In addition to rising land prices, the arrival of foreign residents—mostly North Americans, Europeans, and, to a lesser extent, South Americans and, more recently, digital nomads—has contributed to changing cultural dynamics, commercial preferences, and even the language displayed on some signs or menus.
What’s being lost?
The influx of foreigners and the expansion of luxury real estate projects have profoundly changed local identities. Businesses, fairs, services, and public spaces that once served the needs of the community now cater to the tastes of visitors and new residents.
For example, some local activities and small local businesses are losing ground to an urban model that prioritizes anonymity, exclusivity, and high added value.
Despite this, the local government has been implementing activities to ensure local people maintain their roots through weekly events where they display their products, such as the Mercado de Abasto Solidario.
What can be done?
Sociology experts warn that it is necessary to establish urban policies that promote housing inclusion, the recovery of public space, and the right to the city for all people, not just those who can afford the current high market prices.
Santa Ana is, without a doubt, an emblematic case of the urban development model that Costa Rica is adopting in its GAM. But it is also a wake-up call: progress cannot be measured solely in towers, shopping centers, and added value.
True development must ensure that no one is left out of their own home.
– Advertisement –
Source link
Rico
