Diversity of Lifestyle: A View from Belize

Abstract

Research on lifestyle migration continues to evolve as these movements become more geographically diverse. This form of movement has emerged as an important aspect of social and economic development in many so-called “less-developed countries.” As an increasing number of individuals from more-developed countries seek less-expensive and more-exotic locales to relocate, challenges are sure to follow. This research explores this growing phenomenon in three locations in Belize, a country that has been touted as one of the most desirable for these lifestyle migrants. The paper argues that these three destinations—Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, and Corozal—are attractive for different reasons and are at different phases of their evolution, and that the reaction of locals also varies by destination.

Evaluating the Ability to Use Contextual Features Derived from Multi-Scale Satellite Imagery to Map Spatial Patterns of Urban Attributes and Population Distributions

“…Belize is thus still a rural country, with 54% of its citizens living in rural areas [83]. The country, however, has seen its population double since 1980, mostly via immigration [84] and a relatively new trend of lifestyle migration [85].…”

Sustainable development frictions: lifestyle migration on the coast of Jalisco, Mexico

“…The lifestyle migrant population (estimated 300) in a town of less than 2,000 people is proportionately large, and has made an impact on the generation of local youth (aged 12-32) that have now grown up in a community never absent from this foreign presence. Lifestyle migrant privilege has been found to reshape the social and material landscapes of communities (Jackiewicz and Govdyak 2015;Janoschka 2009). In La Manzanilla, lifestyle migrant capital and ideology have made an impact on local residents, and there were many examples of local entrepreneurial youths, in their twenties during field research (2009-2014), who were taking a leading role in capitalizing on the lifestyle migrant market and developing tourism in ways that align with their own aspirations, and shaping the town in which they envision their lives unfolding.…”