A paradise for sale: Exploring signs of gentrification in Costa Rica's North Pacific region by Christopher Salas

Gentrification and residential tourism are reshaping Costa Rica’s North Pacific coast, driving up property values and altering the fabric of local communities. "A paradise for sale" visualizes this transformation through a data-driven exploration of four key tourism hubs—Playas del Coco, Tamarindo, Nosara, and Cóbano—where real estate booms and rising housing costs signal a shifting landscape.

The first visualization compares property prices per square meter in these hubs against their respective cantonal averages, using natural metaphors: green “hills” symbolize price peaks, while golden circles represent total square meters built in the past year. The second visualization unveils the rapid growth of construction since 2014, particularly post-pandemic, with wave-like shaded figures illustrating its increasing concentration in these tourism centers.

Amid limited public data on real estate trends, this project translates numbers into a visual language that reveals the scale of this phenomenon, sparking deeper reflection on who truly benefits from this model of "development" in my country.