Urban tourism and population change: Gentrification in the age of mobilities

Abstract

The prepandemic unbridled growth of tourism has triggered a significant debate regarding the future of cities; several authors suggest that neighbourhood change produced by tourism should be conceived as a form of gentrification. Yet research on population shifts-a fundamental dimension of gentrification-in such neighbourhoods is scarce. Our exploration of the Gòtic area in Barcelona, using quantitative and qualitative techniques, reveals a process of population restructuring characterised by a decrease of long-term residents and inhabited dwellings, and the arrival of young and transnational gentrifiers that are increasingly mobile and form a transient population. We then use some insights from the mobilities literature to make sense of these results. In the gentrification of the Gòtic, the attractiveness of the area for visitors and for a wider palette of transnational dwellers feeds one another, resulting in an uneven negotiation whereby more wealthy and 'footloose' individuals gain access and control of space and housing over less mobile and more dependent populations.

Articulating urban change in Southern Europe: Gentrification, touristification and financialisation in Mouraria, Lisbon

“…In analytical terms, the case of Mouraria gives empirical substance to Sequera and Nofre’s (2018) argument about the incapacity of gentrification to encompass tourism-driven change. At the same time, however, contra their conclusive argument – and in line with López-Gay et al’s (2020) conclusions – our case also suggests that gentrification and touristification (and financialisation) cannot be de-linked and analysed as independent variables of urban change. We have therefore resorted to articulation as the lens to frame these processes.…”

“…Notwithstanding the empirical specificities that partially explain these different conclusions – Lisbon and Barcelona are in very different stages of the processes here described – these studies provide us with important, complementary conceptual reminders: Sequera and Nofre (2018, 2019) are convincing in their critique of the conceptual unification of gentrification and touristification, while López-Gay et al (2020), by showing a case of coexistence, warn us that we cannot ultimately de-link them. How do we get out of this (apparent) paradox?…”

“…Thus, they did in a follow-up article (Sequera and Nofre, 2019) based on research undertaken in the historical Alfama neighbourhood in Lisbon; there, touristification – accelerated by short-term rentals since 2016/2017 – interrupted pre-existing processes of marginal gentrification and studentification. Different are the results of López-Gay et al’s (2020) study on Barcelona from the perspective of international mobility. There, ‘floating’ European and North-American populations have created territorial enclaves in the touristified centre of Barcelona, showing that touristification and – specific forms of – gentrification can coexist in (Southern European) historical centres.…”

Tourism Network in Urban Agglomerated Destinations: Implications for Sustainable Tourism Destination Development through a Critical Literature Review

“…Simultaneously, the average line strength of the entire network is 0.34. The uncontrolled growth of tourism brings about changes in communities, and the change should be conceived as a form of gentrification [61]. Heritage tourism has been an important part of urban tourism where various aspects such as gentrification tourism require a stern support of certain tourism policies and interventions from destination stakeholders.…”

A City Profile of Malaga: The Role of the Port-City Border throughout Historical Transformations

“…In Bilbao, the transfer of port activity downstream freed the old port, allowing the construction of the Guggenheim, an iconic building that transformed the image of the city (García Vázquez, 2008;Ponzini & Akhavan, 2020;Vegara & de las Rivas, 2004), a strategy followed by many other cities. These three cases of industrial port cities have carried out different dynamics for locating port areas (Costa, 2001) as well as different strategies for relaunching the city, with their own particular impacts on tourism López-Gay et al, 2021).…”