What Gentrification Reveals About Globalization and What Companies Need to Do Differently
GLG Insights | Verônica Grigoletto | September 2, 2025
The New Yorker/Josep Lago/AFP/Getty
Barcelona announced a ban on short-term tourist rentals by 2028. Paris is limiting holiday rental days and issuing fines for violations. Denmark has placed restrictions on foreign buyers to slow down housing displacement. Spain is ordering tens of thousands of illegal Airbnb listings to be taken down.
These are not random policies. They’re part of a global shift. Cities are starting to push back on how global tourism, tech expansion, and real estate speculation are reshaping their communities. At the center of all this? Gentrification.
Strategist Daniela Klaiman has been studying the deeper trends behind globalization. She reminds us that the world imagined in the 1980s, a connected, opportunity-rich, borderless future, is not what many people are living today. Instead of shared growth, we’re seeing rising displacement, growing cultural erasure, and deep inequality. Gentrification is one way those issues show up, and it’s no longer something companies can ignore.
Gentrification Is More Than a Housing Problem
Gentrification happens when new money and development come into a neighborhood, making it more expensive to live in. While it can bring things like new jobs, nicer buildings, and more attention, it often pushes out the people who have lived there the longest.
We usually hear about it in terms of housing or trendy cafés. But the impact runs deeper. When companies move into new areas, whether it’s a neighborhood in Salvador, a creative corridor in Atlanta, or a town in the middle of Mexico, they don’t just bring growth. They also bring disruption.
Grayson Perry
Let’s say you're walking through a rural town in Mexico and see cinnamon rolls being sold in a minimalist café with a menu written in English. The branding feels familiar, global, and trendy. But when you look around, local vendors selling handmade foods or crafts aren’t getting the same visibility or the same value. These small shifts add up. When companies lean into sameness instead of celebrating what’s distinct, entire communities become shaped by outside expectations rather than local truth.
Artists lose their spaces. Families can’t afford to stay. The traditions, languages, and customs that shaped the neighborhood are often erased to make room for more polished, corporate-friendly experiences. The neighborhood starts to look and feel like everywhere else. What once had a soul now feels like a brand.
Some large companies have contributed to this pattern. Airbnb, for example, didn’t start out intending to disrupt housing access, but over time, it played a major role in reshaping rental markets in many cities. What began as a way for people to share extra space turned into a driver of displacement and housing scarcity in places like Mexico, Lisbon, Barcelona, and Rio. In response, Airbnb introduced “local experiences,” giving residents the chance to offer guided activities that highlight their culture and traditions. But the shift came too late. By the time these programs were introduced, many of the original communities were already priced out.
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Some global companies are beginning to shift their approach. Microsoft, for example, has partnered with local governments and nonprofits in places like Brazil to provide digital access and skills training before expanding operations. IKEA has adapted store formats in urban neighborhoods and invested in working with local artisans. These are not perfect models, but they reflect a more respectful and collaborative approach to growth.
The difference isn’t just about size or industry. It’s about whether a company enters a place to build with the community, or to build over it.
This isn’t just a housing issue. It affects jobs, identity, and trust. And if your company is growing or hiring in a new place, you’re part of that story.
Companies Have Two Responsibilities
Most businesses understand their responsibility to their employees, but what about their responsibility to the places they’re entering?
When we work with leadership teams, we ask them to think about both. Are your internal values, like inclusion, equity, and sustainability, reflected in how you show up in the world? Are your hiring policies, your real estate decisions, and your community involvement reinforcing your brand values or contradicting them?
We support companies in connecting those dots. That might look like helping a leadership team build a thoughtful community investment strategy before opening a new office. Or designing an internal policy playbook that considers how urban development affects local workers. Or advising a communications team on how to respond when community trust is at risk.
Our work is about helping you expand with more care and clarity. We’re not here to stop growth; we’re here to make sure it happens in a way that honors the people and places you’re engaging with.
Public-Private Partnerships Can Work, If They’re Done Right
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One of the ways we help companies make that shift is through public-private partnerships. These partnerships, when designed well, allow a company to reinvest directly into the community it’s benefiting from. The key is intention.
Too often, companies write a check for a community event or fund a single beautification project and expect that to count as impact. Meanwhile, their day-to-day operations are contributing to housing shortages, low wages, and cultural displacement.
That’s where strategy comes in.
We work closely with organizations to ensure that these partnerships are more than symbolic. We help them align their investments with real community needs, build trust with local leaders, and understand the policy landscape that will shape their impact. This could look like lobbying for new legislation that protects local workers or designing a job training program in collaboration with a neighborhood association.
These efforts have to be part of your larger business strategy, not just something your social impact team handles as a side project.
What Should Leaders Be Thinking About?
If you're leading a company that’s growing internationally, or even expanding into a new part of the country, ask yourself a few questions:
Are we creating opportunities that include the people who already live here, or just attracting people from elsewhere?
What do we know about the culture, norms, and needs of this place, and are we taking the time to learn?
Are we hiring local talent and building real relationships, or operating in a silo?
Do our internal values match how we’re showing up publicly?
And most importantly, are we willing to slow down and listen before we build?
This is the kind of thinking we help our clients with every day. Whether you’re a global foundation opening a new cultural center, a tech company building a remote team, or a creative brand expanding into new cities, we work alongside you to make sure your growth is grounded, ethical, and aligned with who you say you are.
Gentrification doesn’t have to be the outcome. Cultural harm isn’t inevitable. Companies have choices, and those choices start with being more aware, strategic, and rooted in respect.
If you’re growing your business, entering a new market, or building partnerships that involve real communities, now is the time to get thoughtful.
We help organizations like yours move culturally with consciousness and build strategies that honor the people and places they touch. Whether you’re planning your next expansion, navigating policy shifts, or rethinking your role in a changing world, let’s build something better, together.
Ready to lead with integrity? Start the conversation at glassladdergroup.com or reach out directly to our team.