Gentrification and access to housing in the cities of the future

 According to Anita Roth, head of policy research at Airbnb, it is estimated that cities will need between 200 and 1 billion new homes by 2050, when the UN expects the world’s population to reach 9.7 billion souls. Gentrification, which consists of wealthy citizens settling in central neighborhoods, but little equipped with services or with some urban abandonment, produces an increase in the price of housing and makes the natural inhabitants of such neighborhoods have to move away or relocate. Gentrification happens because people are continually looking for better and cheaper places to live.”The combination of large demographic trends and the distribution of wealth can lead to a radical change in the social development of cities,” says Jens Schulte-Bockum, head of operations at South African telecommunications company MTN Group  and patron of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation.

Some of the solutions to access to housing go through hibric-working, as it contributes to more and more professionals working remotely, so that they do not need to move to large cities. “Uber, Airbnb, Wework… We are creating new paradigms for transport, accommodation or work that can transform cities,” says Kyle Corkum, co-founder and CEO of developer LStar Ventures.

If more and more people are going to live in cities, it is necessary to carry out active policies that promote social cohesion, facilitating access to housing for the most disadvantaged groups.