The hospitable city: social relations in commercial spaces

Abstract

Recent theoretical discussions of the 'spaces of hospitality' have remained largely abstract, and have also ignored the commercial hospitality industry. At the same time, commercial hospitality is becoming increasingly important for the branding and promoting of cities. This paper highlights the connection between urban regeneration, commercial food and drink spaces, and the idea of the 'hospitable city' as it is conceived in both theoretical writings and in accounts of urban regeneration. The paper highlights the work of hospitality in the commercial sector, but also argues that commercial hospitality should not be seen as merely calculative, instrumental, economic exchange.

Hospitality, Culture and Regeneration: Urban Decay, Entrepreneurship and the ‘Ruin’ Bars of Budapest

“…This case thus points to the need to develop a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between the built landscape, discourses of city living, and the operational policies of hospitality venues that thrive in particular urban locations. The Budapest case also stresses the need to extend the study of hospitality and notions of the "hospitable city" (Bell, 2007a(Bell, , 2007b) through a critical appraisal of how cultural, material and social forces and agencies interact to produce hybrid forms of hospitality. This reflects and adds weight to the growing calls for research on hospitality to consider how broader sets of factors interact to form hospitality spaces and hospitable experiences (Lashley et al, 2007;Lugosi, 2008Lugosi, , 2009.…”

“That's cool, you’re a musician and you drink”: Exploring entertainers’ accounts of their unique workplace relationship with alcohol

“…Entertainment is provided by pubs/clubs to attract customers, while entertainers benefit from the existence of these venues as performance spaces (Briggs, 2013;Forsyth & Cloonan, 2008;Hadfield, 2006;Homel & Tomsen, 1993). Taken together this symbiotic relationship has been termed 'drinkertainment' (Bell, 2007). However, in our research it soon became apparent that while the presence of entertainers within licensed premises might increase the public's exposure to alcohol to some extent, being on licensed premises increased entertainers' exposure to alcohol to a much greater degree.…”

Changes On the Housing Market of the Downtown Area in Selected Polish Cities

“…parks and public gardens, -existing forms of development, including high-density housing areas, characteristic for city centres, as well as areas of urban housing of medium to low density. Additionally, according to BELL (2007) and MORANDI (2011) the attractiveness of the downtown is influenced by its atmosphere and character, which are built by small, local shops, restaurants and hotels distinguished by an individual and a more emotional attitude towards the customer. It is this unique identity, stemming from the originality of features, which influences the competitiveness of the downtown when compared to other areas of the city.…”