PUSHBACK Talks

Architects of Change: Mexico's Women Leaders Take on the Housing Crisis

• WG Film • Season 8 • Episode 18

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This week, we explore how Mexico City is challenging the global housing crisis through innovative female leadership. While 26,000 Airbnb listings have transformed the city's housing landscape, primarily benefiting large investors rather than residents, women at the helm of Mexico's government are implementing bold solutions. Their vision includes building one million new homes and constitutional reforms to expand affordable rental options for working-class and young people.

Our guest, Maria Silvia Emmanuelli, Coordinator for Habitat International Coalition Latin America and advisor to the housing ministry, discusses Mexico City's groundbreaking regulation of short-term rentals and plans for 100 "utopias" – public spaces centered on care and social harmony.

Fredrik, Leilani, and Maria Silvia examine how this rare alignment between city and federal government is enabling creative approaches that could inspire new solutions to housing challenges worldwide.


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Kirsten McRae:

In cities around the world, housing has become a battleground between residents and tourists, but in Mexico City, an extraordinary transformation is taking shape. While 26,000 Airbnb listings have emerged in just a decade, most controlled by large investors, bold leadership is offering new hope. Mexico's new federal government has committed to an ambitious plan of building 1 million new homes alongside a constitutional reform expanding rental options for working class and young people. Even more striking are Mexico City's plans for 100 utopias, public spaces focused on care, inclusion and social harmony that could revolutionize how communities function and potentially connect with housing initiatives to create truly integrated neighborhoods. Our guest today is Maria Silvia Emanuele, Latin American coordinator for Habitat international coalition and advisor to the housing ministry. Mexico City has become one of Latin America's first cities to regulate short term rentals, challenging the narrative that Airbnb primarily benefits local homeowners earning extra income, Maria asserts that in this moment of political alignment between city and federal government, creative housing solutions are not just possible. They're already beginning. In today's episode, Fredrik and Leilani explore whether Mexico's women led government might inspire new approaches to the global housing crisis. This is Pushback Talks.

Fredrik Gertten:

I'm Fredrik Gertten and I'm the filmmaker,

Leilani Farha:

and I'm Leilani Farha and I'm the advocate.

Fredrik Gertten:

And this is, again, Pushback Talks, and it's a sunny, beautiful spring day in Malmo, Sweden, where I'm looking out at the street where I see some students coming by. It's their happy time of the year. Now, how happy are the days in Ottawa, Canada, the

Leilani Farha:

days are very happy in my house, because I have two university students who just finished their second year as a university. So they are happy. Happy, sweet,

Fredrik Gertten:

sweet. Last week, last episode, we talked about the challenges in the world and how to stay hopeful, and we kind of stated that human rights are still right and that colonialism is not so we agreed on a lot of things. Today, we are going back to a city where we spent some interest before and I spent a lot of time. We are back in Mexico, and we have an old friend coming on, and that's Maria Silvia Emanuele, who is Latin American coordinator for Habitat international coalition. So based in Mexico City, and we met when I showed push and breaking social in Mexico, and you've been on our show. So welcome to Pushback Talks, Maria,

Maria Silvia:

thank you. It's really nice to be here with you again. Yeah,

Fredrik Gertten:

I can see that in your zoom line. It says, Maria Silvia as a Sora secretaria vivienda. Are you advisor to the to the housing minister? Is that of the city of Mexico or of this?

Maria Silvia:

Yes, yes, I have a foot there. Also

Leilani Farha:

fantastic. They need you.

Fredrik Gertten:

That's a good thing.

Maria Silvia:

Thank you.

Fredrik Gertten:

We started to plan this, this podcast, we were talking about the FIFA World Cup happening next year. And the funny thing with that is that it's three countries doing it together. But regarding to the president of one of them, it should only be two countries, and then there is like a trade war on there. On the other one, it's interesting because you are in Mexico and you are in Canada, and so in between, you have this, this problematic child, the United States of America. So there will be an interesting game going on next year. It's really hard to travel, won't it?

Leilani Farha:

Well, we're all talking about it already in Canada. I don't know about Mexico, but we certainly feel this. I mean, we've always had a lovely relationship with Mexico as Canadians, but now we feel much affection for people in Mexico and this World Cup is already starting to get us thinking about, How is this possible? How is this even going to work at all, given the US position with respect to our two countries, I don't know, Maria, is it a conversation happening in Mexico City?

Maria Silvia:

Well, I think here, the most important conversation is about like the happiness to have a World Cup again, the tourists coming and the idea of having people visiting, I think this is the focus. Not everyone has the same sensation we have also important social movement already criticized. What is going on? Because there is this big stadium that is being renewed, and many things are happening around this renewing. So yes, in general, I will say people is really happy. We are the Formula One, also just a few weeks ago or months ago, and now the World Cup, we are going to have just two or three football match here. I don't think more than two or three in Mexico City. But even so, yes, there is this enthusiasm around the majority, I will say, because of the World Cup. Yes, I'm

Fredrik Gertten:

more enthusiastic about Mexico, because, in a world where many people are so depressed right now, and I can always say, but have a look at Mexico. They have a climate scientist as a president, female, Jewish pro Palestine. You know, it's like, it's,

Maria Silvia:

it's a light.

Leilani Farha:

It's like, incredible, incredible.

Fredrik Gertten:

It's like the upside down, and it's like, the contrast is so stark, but I think it's also very hopeful contrast. So Viva Mexico. But you, Maria Sylvia, you are as you work with housing and homes and Mexico already, during the pandemic, became a refugee place for a lot of North Americans who didn't want to stay in the country. And I think now, when with Trump, you will have even more refugees coming down who prefer the free air of Mexico City and other and other cities. And that, of course, is a challenge for the housing situation, and there's a lot of movement criticizing North Americans coming in, or people coming in, the digital nomads. What is the state right now? Well, yes,

Maria Silvia:

from four years now, from the pandemic, it's true that in general, we start to receive more people, I will say, from the Global North. The reaction from the really beginning, where, as always, some people, is really happy to see the city changing, be more modern, as you can imagine, because the narrative is similar in other places, but other people, lot of people, I will say, and this, for me, is really interesting, is really worried about the process. We don't have a big social movement organize themselves around, for example, touristification, gentrification, or whatever word we want to use outside academic like but we have lot of lot a lot of people really, that wants to speak about this issue. So we are few activists working on housing rights at the moment in Mexico, I will say, and we receive, I don't know, a number of invitation to speak about the phenomenon that is really impressive. For example, I always say, in the last three or four years, I was asked to be part of interview like 50 or 60 times in an year. And that is crazy, because everything is around gentrification is not about housing. It's about this part of the phenomenon. So we have lot of people coming now in Airbnb, for example, we have 26,000 housing for a phenomenon that didn't start 20 years ago, like in Europe, but just 10 years ago, for example. And now it's really evident that in a way, four or five areas of the city are really in the center of the interest of tourism. Yeah,

Fredrik Gertten:

as I've been a lot to Mexico, and my film push went on cinemas, and I was back again, and I was there also with breaking social, also in cinemas. And I'm so I meet a lot of people, and I love, I love the city, and of course, I also love all the modern coffee shops and restaurants. I'm in total fucker for that. You know, sucker ice so, but I can see the problem, of course, that if there is no protection for tenants, the things go out of hand. And now it's it gets very expensive for people to live in the city. So that's what I guess you are into a lot. But I also understand that the President shine bone, and the mayor of Mexico City, Clara, is also involved in this struggle. And I heard that the President wants to build 1 million new homes. There's also some kind of empty homes. Legislation coming up. Can you tell us more about this?

Maria Silvia:

Yes, it's true. Now the issue of housing and habitat in general is the issue, I will say. In this last campaign of Claudia Shem down and Clara Brugada, housing issues were at the middle of the debate, not only in the case of the federal level, we have many, many other issue, but was really clear that trying to solve the problems around housing was really important. In the case of the city, the situation is the same. We have as major Clara Brugada, that is somebody that is coming from the urban popular movement, and this change, in a way, everything. So, yes, we, I think we are going to see really interesting things, also around rental housing, building by the public institutions. For example, this is a conversation that is again on the table, and is something that is really important here, because we don't have a long history of rental housing, and yes, it is true, we don't have, for example, a legislation around a tenant, right? And this is a problem also.

Fredrik Gertten:

Maria Silva, let's go back. You have a new president since not so long ago. Clara scheinbaum, you have a new mayor in Mexico City. Clara borugada, two women very different to what we see from the your neighbor in the north trying to confront the housing situation. How. How is the status there right now? Yes,

Maria Silvia:

well, at the federal level, the President proposed to build 1 million new homes. We need 8 million new homes. But even so is a good starting, I will say. And then we have this constitutional reform that established that the homes that normally are giving to the working class, and normally we're just on property now we are also speaking about giving them and young people the possibility of having rental housing, and after some years, buying those houses. So rental issues are back again. We still work also on the issue of social production of habitat, that is something that is not so common in the Global North as a concept, but the majority of the population here is building their own home. This is the way to get a house. So we hope to see something new, also, really to around this, this way to get an house, also because of people participating and managing all the process. So the social production of housing is on the table again, and at the local level, I think we have really interesting things because, well, we have this care spaces, in a way, as utopias. You heard about it, these spaces that Clara Brugada already built in ista palapa when she was the major of ista palapa. So these spaces are really important public spaces where people, in this case, from an area of the city where it's really difficult to find public spaces, spaces where, in a way, everything around the concept of care are connected to this idea of utopias. And she wants to build 100 utopias in the city. I hope that this will be done also in connection with housing, not just new public spaces, but also the all the concept of habitat connected to utopias and we really need to protect from speculation this kind of spaces. And then she's speaking again about building new houses, having a public rental houses for young people, for older people, diversity, sexual diversity. The debate is now. Is happening just now, so we don't really know what is going on, what we are going to see in the next month, but the debate is now on the table quite

Fredrik Gertten:

a bit. I need the help. Leilani this concept of utopia. Guys, it sounds amazing. Yes, yeah. How do you read that? Leilani, yeah.

Leilani Farha:

I mean, it actually stands for in English, units for transformation and organization, for inclusion and social harmony. And as I understand them from Northern perspective, we would call them like a multi faceted Community Center, where you can go and get many, many services all in one place. And I've read about these in the media, and I love what Maria said, that these should ideally be linked also to housing, because, I mean, that is what the right to housing is. It's housing that is connected to employment and services, transportation, etc. And so if there is a way to combine utopia or utopia to housing, would be fantastic. I don't know if the mayor has that in her plans yet, but Maria, you can use your position no to push in that direction.

Maria Silvia:

Yes, well, I am the major is speaking also with Barcelona, for example, is not a city that is working like looking only inside our problems, but the city is really trying to speak with other city also to connect. And yes, I think this debate is also on the air, in a way, and I hope we will see really interesting things around this. We don't want utopias for people that is not really a resident here, and just for tourism, for example. We want utopias for everyone. This is the idea. So, yes, I hope the debate can fall on this track. We are speaking also about cooperatives, again, housing cooperatives, even if we have a law at the national level from the really beginning, like after the revolution, Mexico built a constitution, and from these really beginning, cooperatives were at the constitutional level, but not housing cooperatives. So we really need to try to push in having a law at the federal level and also at the local level, and then we have all this debate as every city now around tourism and platform like Airbnb. So maybe something can be interesting for public to know is that in Latin America, we don't really have regulations on that. Mexico City is the first city with Buenos Aires more or less at the same moment to start to regulate the situation. So here several provisions were added to the Mexico City tourism law, not housing law, but tourism law, to try to balance competition between short stay tourist accommodation and traditional hotels. In that moment, the hotels lobbying was the one that really pushed the government to make this change. But in the justification of these provisions, the major of that time also mentioned that the new law want, or the new provision, want, to prevent gentrification and to prevent rising housing prices. This reform maybe is not you. Are you an expert? Leilani is not deal reform, but can be something important to pilots in a way, yeah, let's

Fredrik Gertten:

say a little bit about Airbnb here, because we've been talking a lot about Airbnb in this podcast, and it's it's a wild animal. I saw an op ed you wrote in one of the Mexican newspapers that you had also pointed out that the Airbnb homes in Mexico City are owned by big, big groups of investors. It's not private homes out there on the market is that Leilani also a global phenomenon. Absolutely,

Leilani Farha:

there is this myth, and Airbnb will help, and other short term platforms will try to propagate the myth. If you regulate Airbnb, you're going to limit extra income families are earning by renting a little their little room in their home, when in fact, huge percentages in different markets are owned by multiple listings by corporations at international companies. Paris is a good example. Paris has a huge Airbnb saturation, 95,000 1000 Airbnb units in Paris, representing close to, like, 10% 7% of all housing in Paris is Airbnb, and of those, 90% are owned by big companies who own hundreds of units, not a bedroom in, you know, the back of the house kind of thing. One of the things I've tried to do in my work is expose the way in which this is another form of financializing housing, institutional investment in housing, it's the big investors that are getting profits from what could be long term homes.

Fredrik Gertten:

And is that the same situation in Mexico, Sylvia,

Maria Silvia:

yes, is more or less the same situation, the same narrative. Because we have something that I think is interesting here is that this reform established a maximum occupancy rate at 50% of the year for accommodation units, that is something that is kind of different from what we see in other countries. We see in New York, for example, 30% as a maximum occupancy, but only around first homes. And here is that in general. So there is not the differences between if somebody is giving a room only all the flat or house to tourists. So when we analyze the reaction of this law, we discover that only 17% of the housing that are on Airbnb can be really affected, and those houses are in the hands of big companies. So yes, this is the situation here. The narrative is the same that Leilani was pointing out we have also here this idea of people earning money because of an extra room, but is not really the situation. The phenomenon is really similar, as in other countries,

Fredrik Gertten:

and Airbnb has been suing the city of Mexico, like they doing in many other countries also, what I can see so there is, it's legal fights happening also in many places. Yes,

Maria Silvia:

yes, there is this legal fight we already saw, also, as in Spain, for example, and Italy specific studies paid by Airbnb saying that they are not the ones that are really causing the crisis, the housing crisis. The methodologies are really similar from these studies in different places, Leilani.

Fredrik Gertten:

How do you see this? Well,

Leilani Farha:

one of the things that's really interesting to me is the arguments Airbnb is making in Mexico. They're saying that it's giving an unfair advantage to hotels and giving hotels a monopoly. But the difference between hotels and Airbnb is hotels are many owned by many. Airbnb is a particular one company, one platform, and so to compare the monopoly that Airbnb might have with the monopoly that hotels might have seems ridiculous to me. They seem unwilling to recognize the impact that they are having themselves as a platform on long term residents. I mean, that's the real issue here you have all of these units being used for non local populations, right? Hotel

Fredrik Gertten:

stuff can be unionized, exactly, rights, rights, exactly. Also a hell of a difference,

Leilani Farha:

absolutely. So I understand that there are issues around tourism for a lot of cities and countries, right? And Mexico is now staring down tariffs from the United States, and that's going to destabilize their economy, like the rest of the world. And tourism is one way in which Mexico benefits economically. Presumably, that being said, people have to live in the cities and towns and villages, and if Airbnb is occupying too much of the housing stock, it's a problem. And there are studies that show that where Airbnb is concentrated, local rents go up, and academics have shown this. So Airbnb resists that data, but that's what academics have shown.

Fredrik Gertten:

Yeah, so how do you see this coming up in the coming years, this battle? Maria Sylvia, well,

Maria Silvia:

the law I was mentioning is one, one year old law, in a way, but is not active. We don't use this law because the law established that we need the city need a platform to. Register only Airbnb. This is a strange things. Not other platform, only Airbnb. At the moment, ads needs to be registered in this platform at the local level, as you know, other experiences in in other countries, in other cities, start with this kind of register, and we also know that is not enough, but even so, we don't have the register at this moment, so it's really difficult to analyze the effect of this law, as we discussed before the World Cup is coming. So there is this difficult moment, really, to take decisions. Here, Airbnb is taking 5% from the owner as tax, and is giving this tax to the city. Is not much, and the city is not really controlling. They don't know if the money that Airbnb is giving to the city is correct or not, but even so, is something that is being used also for other things. And in the study I mentioned, Airbnb is saying, Okay, you can take this money and do more social housing with that, and the total is really, is really low. Is not really useful for this, but this is the conversation. So just have

Fredrik Gertten:

just one thought that I bumped into my head, is that now with President sheinbaum and with Mayor burgada, when we've been talking to cities all over the world, it's always been a complaint. Yet we in the city, we want this, but the national government doesn't. But now you're actually in a position where you have a good connection with both levels. So it must be a very fun moment to work on housing issues right now in Mexico, isn't it? Yes,

Maria Silvia:

it's a really exciting moment. I will say we see that many creative things can happen here. I think the energy is totally positive to build something new, to build something creative, to also really connect, as I said, with other experiences, and to try these experiences here. So is right, really good moment. And in the case of Mexico, the city of Mexico is like a state. So there is not this problem as in other places where cities cannot do something because of the federal government doesn't want in this case, in Mexico, we have the same party at the federal level and at the city level. So is a different situation, but we also need to understand that Mexico City is like a state and has more lot of power to take decisions around houses.

Fredrik Gertten:

So Leilani, what if you were in Mexico? Now, if you want to create an inspiration to the whole world, what is would be your dream to happen?

Leilani Farha:

Oh my gosh, no way. I'm not answering that question. What I will say is that I am putting a lot of stock in these two women leaders, and they're showing that it can make a difference when you have women in leadership positions, not always, but it can make a difference. I mean, if you look at these utopias that are being set up, I mean, part of that is to address the work burden that women have on them in Mexico, because they can go and have these services available to them. It lowers, it's to create equality. That's a really, you know, feminist vision of the world. And I think if they set their minds to this housing dilemma, these two women, we can see some amazing change, as long as they understand it's a housing system. You can't just fix here over on the left and fix over on the right. You have to look at it as a system. But I think these two women are poised to make a difference. You

Fredrik Gertten:

refuse to answer my question. You're basically saying the dream is already happening. Maybe.

Leilani Farha:

Yeah, let's support them. We have to support them.

Fredrik Gertten:

I'm trying to save my own skin and yours.

Leilani Farha:

Thanks, Fredrik, I always appreciate you saving my skin.

Fredrik Gertten:

Yeah, you have a beautiful skin. The audience can't see it, but you complain a lot about it. But what can I do? Maria Sylvia, so you're living the dream, but it's, of course it's

Maria Silvia:

and it's always different living the dream and being outside,

Fredrik Gertten:

but you have one building 100 utopias. That's a good start now, but I will just congratulate you, and let's keep following what happens in Mexico, and we will let you run off. Your important work, Leilani, you're also off to your daily struggles with Palestine and with the housing issues, homelessness

Leilani Farha:

issue in Canada, that's where I'm heading next to address some of those issues.

Fredrik Gertten:

So thank you very much for being on Pushback Talks and Leilani, I know we should always say that you have to support this podcast by

Leilani Farha:

by going to patreon.com and looking at Pushback Talks. You can give us a little money, and money is love in these these days and these times. But also they can rate our podcast and tell their friends. Tell friends absolutely spread the love and the news. Yeah,

Fredrik Gertten:

amazing. Thank you. Have a great day out there in Mexico and in Ottawa, in Canada, and I will take care of Malmo the Malmo night. You too, Fredrik, yeah, okay. Thank you very much. Thank

Maria Silvia:

you. Thank you. You too, thanks.

Leilani Farha:

Maria, thanks. Fredrik, bye, bye bye.

Kirsten McRae:

Pushback Talks is produced by WG film. To support the podcast, become a patron by going to patreon.com/pushback talks Follow us on social media at make underscore the shift and push underscore the film. Or check out our websites, maketheshift.org, pushthefilm.com, or breakingsocialfilm.com