should we all just... stay home?
non-action as a solution to global gentrification
it’s no longer cool to move to Barcelona
Go home, guiri, make space for the struggling locals. Trying your luck in Mexico or South Africa? Colonizer. Travelers are being actively discouraged from visiting places like Hawaii. In Brazil, as its popularity as a tourist destination rises, tourist scams are suddenly being celebrated because gringos pagam mais caro and that’s fair, apparently.
Traveling or moving abroad is not as praised and encouraged as it once was, it seems. Instead, it is increasingly viewed as a problematic act of selfishness and Western neocolonialism.
And don’t get me wrong. I fully understand where this sentiment comes from. The city I call home has been in the chokehold of weekend visitors and wealthy expats for years now.
Prague's housing market is one of the worst in Europe, yet the short-term rentals are thriving. Things have been getting exponentially more expensive, but somehow we still make it to the “most affordable destinations for digital nomads” listicles. Locals have avoided the Old Town for as long as I can remember because nothing there is authentic, affordable, or enjoyable. In many cafés and restaurants around Prague, the staff will automatically address you in English - speaking the local language is no longer required even for customer-facing jobs. Those who move here typically don’t bother learning Czech - it’s a difficult language that is largely deemed useless.
After all, it’s not like Prague is the final destination for most.
People come here, throw up all over the city (literally and metaphorically), gentrify, raise the prices, complain about things getting worse, and then leave. Back to their home countries, to a more up-and-coming digital nomad haven, or simply somewhere with better opportunities or better weather. The Czechs who don’t have these same options are left to deal with the aftermath.
But is telling everybody not to come here going to solve anything?
go home and stay home?
It almost seems like we’ve come full circle, and leaving your hometown is suddenly a bad thing. Are we trees now? Meant to put down roots in one place and never move?
The irony is not lost on me. Humans have been moving around this planet for millennia, so why is it suddenly so… problematic?
While I understand the frustration and the ever-growing anti-tourist, expat, digital nomad, you-name-it sentiments, I can’t shake the feeling that the barking is happening at the wrong tree. The discourse seems to be often rooted in xenophobia and the tendency to blame local problems on the abstract foreigner as an easy scapegoat.
Is “digital nomads are raising our rents” just the other side of the “immigrants are stealing our jobs” coin?
While the presence of economically advantaged foreigners in your city undoubtedly comes with some challenges, at the end of the day, most are just humans searching for a better life. You can’t realistically blame the people who see an opportunity and seize it. Wouldn’t you do the same?
Most would. Some have to. How often do we hear stories about people getting priced out of LA, London, or Sydney, only to turn around and move to CDMX, Lisbon, or Bali, where they have the upper hand in terms of capital? Uncool, sure, but are they the problem or the victims here? Shouldn’t we criticize the game instead of the players?
Gentrification is set in motion by governments long before the first “gentrifiers” even arrive, and displacement typically doesn’t happen until large-scale developers and real estate speculators enter the chat. On its own, the presence of wealthier individuals in an area, local or foreign, is not inherently bad and doesn’t have to signal gentrification if handled properly.
Placing the blame on the foreigners is tempting but cheap. Try blaming the governments that have abandoned their people and sold their countries off to the highest bidder instead. Blame the companies redeveloping popular neighborhoods with no consideration for the local communities. Blame the landlords shamelessly raising rents, and the cities unwilling to implement rent control.
Blame whoever came up with the idea that inviting the rich in would solve everything just because they’re rich. Who you really want in your country are people who care about it, no matter where they were born. Sure, there are opportunists out there, but most individuals looking to move abroad are not going to buy up land in bulk and turn historical buildings into Airbnbs - they just want to live their lives in a place they like.
balancing both sides
For someone who lives in a very gentrified and touristified city but, at the same time, likes to travel and is no stranger to moving abroad, it’s sometimes hard to reconcile the two opposing roles I have in this.
Personally, I like the idea of free human movement and open borders. I had the privilege of living most of my life in the Schengen area, and I enjoy the concept. I want Prague to welcome immigrants, no matter where they come from or how much money they bring in. I want people to be able to move here, just like I want to have the option to move elsewhere.
But at the same time, I do want the people who come here to pay their dues. To live and settle here instead of treating the city like a quarter-life crisis transit stop. To pay taxes, learn the language, and participate in the community. To embrace our culture instead of trying to erase or replace it. All that should really be the bare minimum.
And like it or not, tourism is a necessary part of life here, even though I would like to see the city prioritize the needs of locals over those of visitors, and to try to change the reputation it carries abroad. There have been attempts at promoting more responsible tourism here, and I see that and welcome that.
Jumping on Tiktok and yelling at people to stop coming here won’t lower my housing costs or convert the historical Máj building from the tourist trap it is now back to a regular old-school shopping mall.
Unless?
doesn’t hostility kind of work though?
No matter how misguided they may be, hostile campaigns do have the power to trigger a real change, evidenced by what’s happening in the gentrification poster child city, Barcelona. Maybe creating an unpleasant environment for tourists and expats is enough to stop them from coming. Maybe the protesters do have a point.
But then what?
Once we’ve told everyone to go home and not come to our city ever again, banned Airbnb, and replaced every overpriced organic vegan coworking café with canteens and laundromats, have we won? Did we beat gentrification once and for all?
Time will only tell if fewer foreigners = a better quality of life for the locals. Especially if the core systemic issues remain unaddressed.
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fialka
I think travel is a privilege and paying for that should be awareness: of our own privilege to call ourselves expat / migrant / immigrant / of our passport power and what we do with the understanding of other societies we gain from that travel.
An aside: I always try to learn something about the political governance and social contract of a place and work out how I can give something back. Sometimes that happens long after I have returned because places take time to learn about but it also keeps an engagement with a place (reading news, following a theme, making a donation or supporting a cause for example).
But on the part of anti immigrant sentiment most of those people don’t have a choice, many are forced migrants, and make huge sacrifices to get to a better life for their families. They also get lumped in with refugees. To compare lifestyle migrants such as remote workers, digital nomads risks coming across a bit crass due to the masses of inequality between these two groups of travellers and the more real discrimination, injustice and racism they face in their host country which impacts their children, their work options and where they can live. This isn’t a reality for many remote workers / digital nomads who also have the privilege of leaving.
This is a great read and very thought-provoking. As someone who is committed to traveling the world, it is imperative to do so respectfully and responsibly. In my opinion, the idea of spending time in another community is to learn the local culture, not just consume and depart.
With that said, when not traveling, I live between two very popular tourist destinations. Both have issues with an influx of visitors for specific scheduled events. As much as living in these destinations during high-profile events is a headache to say the least, I can't complain. Events and visitors bring in money to the local economy, that improve the quality of life for the community. It is a double-edged sword and one that is important to understand both sides.