Exploring new frontiers? “Neo-slumming” and gentrification as a tourism resource

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse urban transformation as a tourism resource. Tourism is undeniably a powerful motor for urban transformation but in return, urban transformation can represent a resource for actors related to tourism. More precisely this paper focuses on one major transformation of modern cities: gentrification. Design/methodology/approach The central hypothesis of this paper is that gentrification accompanies tourism, but that gentrification itself may also become an object of the tourist gaze. The paper focuses on local guides and small touristic entrepreneurs in order to identify the tensions that might arise. The presentation of two guided tours – “Subculture Brixton Nightlife Tour” and “Where Brooklyn At?” – will enable us to explore how the gentrification of Brixton (London) and Brooklyn (New York) may be used as a tourism resource for local private entrepreneurs. Findings Results presented here are based on ethnographic methods such as observation as well as content analysis and semi-directive interviews. Mobilising the historical concept of “slumming”, this paper proposes an extended conceptual framework, “neo-slumming”, to analyse evolving tourism practices in modern cities, practices that are considered here as tourism’s new frontiers. Originality/value However, as tourism transforms cities, the process itself is now of interest to tourists and thus becomes a resource for sector businesses (Naef, 2018). Yet studies about the touristification of urban transformation are still quite rare. This analysis aims to fill this gap by looking at the way a process, such as some spectacular, rapid or radical transformation of the urban fabric, can become a touristic resource associated with specific narratives and representations. In this context, the tourist gaze (Urry, 2002) is directed on a resource characterised by its ongoing change.

Social media sites and nightlife tourism: an empirical study of tourist decision-making on nightlife entertainment consumption

“…Previous studies related to nightlife tourism have primarily applied qualitative analyses (Liempt & Aalst, 2016; Taecharungroj, 2019) and focused on social impacts (Eldridge, 2019; Garcia, 2018; Mecca, 2019; Nofre, 2021; Peperkamp, 2018) and gentrification (Bauder, 2020; Litvin, 2017; Calvo et al, 2017; Pieroni & Naef, 2019). Conversely, the present study applied a quantitative method to meet its objectives of evaluating the relationship between social media usage and nightlife consumption.…”

“…Additionally, studies exploring nightlife entertainment have focused their attention on the space or venues of night-time activities, including pubs, bars, nightclubs, dance clubs and lounges, all of which involve informal social activities among both strangers and friends (Chew, 2009; Currid-Halkett, 2007; Eldridge, 2019; Florida, 2004; Mendes & Mendes, 2011; Ngesan & Karim, 2012). Nonetheless, in addition to bars and clubs, nightlife entertainment can involve night-time social and cultural tours, for instance, visiting urban arts and local night markets (Pieroni & Naef, 2019). This study, however, applies the definition of nightlife tourism as engagement in hedonistic activities in the late evening to late night at night-time leisure venues, including pubs, bars, nightclubs, dance clubs and lounges.…”

Efectos socio-espaciales del turismo en procesos de gentrificación: análisis bibliométrico y de literatura

“…En la medida que aumenta la población y el tamaño de las ciudades, así como su actividad económica, de igual manera se incrementan las presiones sobre su infraestructura y los servicios que presta como empleo, vivienda, servicios y diversión (Echeverri & Vieira, 2020). Son numerosos los estudios que han analizado los cambios que afectan a las ciudades contemporáneas a través del concepto de gentrificación (Mermet, 2017;Pieroni & Naef, 2019), y que están afectando cada vez más a varios lugares del mundo (Cocola-Gant, 2018). La gentrificación del turismo es una fuerza determinante de los paisajes urbanos socioeconómicos y contemporáneos (Pieroni & Naef, 2019; Anne-Cecile Mermet, 2017) debido a que causan cambios evidentes en la concentración poblacional (Aramburu, 2020; Cocola-Gant & Lopez-Gay, 2020) y de capital (Katsinas, 2021;Robertson et al, 2020;Donaldson, 2018;Gravari-Barbas, 2017;Leebrick, 2015;Lin, 2008;Gotham, 2005).…”