Alternative forms of tourism such as eco-tourism feature prominently in development policy and literature. This article focuses on international volunteer tourism, a specific form of tourism that is closely linked to a range of development projects in low-income countries. This form of 'tourism with a development agenda' has become increasingly popular among young people from developed countries. We argue that volunteer tourism both reflects and contributes to a new logic of development. This form of travel can be understood as a particular, neoliberal form of development practice, in which development is not only privatized but can be packaged as a marketable commodity. We focus critically on the process of volunteering and the interactions that take place within this form of tourism, with a focus on the concurrent commercialization of development and cultural difference.Des formes de tourisme alternatif telles que l'e´co-tourisme deviennent de plus en plus importantes, tant dans les de´bats que les pratiques de de´veloppement. Cet article s'inte´resse au volontariat international, un type de tourisme particulier qui se de´roule dans le cadre de projets de de´veloppement varie´s dans les pays en voie de de´veloppement. Cette forme de 'tourisme pour le de´veloppement' devient de plus en plus populaire parmi les jeunes des pays de´veloppe´s. Nous soutenons que cette forme de tourisme refle`te et contribue a`une nouvelle logique de de´veloppement. Ce type de voyage peut eˆtre vu comme une forme particulie`re, ne´olibe´rale de de´veloppement, dans laquelle celui-ci est non seulement privatise´, mais est aussi pre´sente´comme un produit commercialisable. Nous examinons de manie`re critique ce processus de volontariat, ainsi que les interactions qui en de´coulent, en nous penchant particulie`rement sur la question de la commercialisation du de´veloppement et des diffe´r-ences culturelles.
Preservation of cultural heritage is related with high costs and required interventions generally exceed available funding. It is, therefore, necessary to prioritise renovation interventions. Multi-criteria assessment can lead to scientifically sound and informed decisions about interventions. The paper presents the results of research carried out with the purpose of establishing a multi-criteria method for the assessment of architectural heritage, specifically for castles in Slovenia. It explains the methodology used to develop the multi-criteria method. Its main elements are critical content analysis of relevant literature, comparative analysis between the Slovenian and international space, and identification of relevant criteria and sub-criteria of the decision method. The course and results of empirical research, based on interviews with selected experts, is presented together with the results of the criteria importance ranking based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The research presented in this paper is interdisciplinary and brings together tangible and intangible aspects of cultural heritage. The obtained results confirm that rational determination of relative importance of individual criteria for the assessment of architectural heritage can help decision-makers to identify buildings with higher refurbishment priority.
The emergent field of ‘sensory urbanism’ studies how socio-spatial boundaries are policed through sensorial means. Such studies have tended to focus on either formal policies that seek to control territories and populations through a governance of the senses, or on more everyday micro-politics of exclusion where conflicts are articulated in a sensory form. This article seeks to extend this work by concentrating on contexts where people deliberately seek out sensory experiences that disturb their own physical sense of comfort and belonging. While engagement across lines of sensorial difference may often be antagonistic, we argue for a more nuanced exploration of sense disruption that attends to the complex political potential of sensory urbanism. Specifically, we focus on the politics of sensation in tours of low-income urban areas. Tourists enter these areas to immerse themselves in a different environment, to be moved by urban deprivation and to feel its affective force. What embodied experiences do tourists and residents associate with urban poverty? How do guides mobilise these sensations in tourism encounters, and what is their potential to disrupt established hierarchies of socio-spatial value? Drawing on a collaborative research project in Kingston, Mexico City, New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, the article explores how tours offer tourists a sense of what poverty feels like. Experiencing these neighbourhoods in an intimate, embodied fashion often allows tourists to feel empathy and solidarity, yet these feelings are balanced by a sense of discomfort and distance, reminding tourists in a visceral way that they do not belong.
Resumen El presente artículo analiza los procesos del desarrollo urbano y la política cultura en la Ciudad de México, concentrándose en la manera en que la restructuración de las ciudades, guidada por políticas neoliberales y la economía simbólica, impacta distritos desfavorecidos. A partir de la investigación etnográfica, hacemos uso del turismo en el conocido barrio Tepito como lente para explorar cómo los diferentes actores interactúan con estos procesos. A medida que los espacios urbanos son recreados para el consumo cultural, una gama de actores intenta convertir los “slums” en destinos atractivos y experiencias de consumo. Estas estrategias de desarrollo reescriben el significado y valor de estas conocidas áreas en la ciudad, generando conflictos por el control sobre la representación y la venta de los espacios. Sostenemos que mientras la reestructuración de la economía neoliberal y el crecimiento de la economía simbólica agravan las desigualdades socio‐espaciales y al mismo tiempo abren espacios en donde se dan nuevas oportunidades para impugnarlas. [Ciudad de México, desarrollo urbano, desigualdad social, turismo urbano]
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