“Welcome to the Barcelona (BCN) Theme Park”
“Tourism is the new favorite strategy for central city planners and is a central component of the economic, social and cultural shift that has left its imprint on the world system of cities in the past two decades. As a result, urban culture itself has become a commodity, and cities have a competitive advantage over suburbs. ... The focus though has to go beyond just attracting visitors. It really does also have to be on these questions of social equity — equity for the resident and also for the visitor. It is not right to say we just want élite visitors, quality tourists who shop in the very best stores. Travel is a commodity that is generally desired and which should be available to all. So the question becomes: How do you make it available to all without destroying the places that people are visiting?”
Susan Fainstein, from “Tourism and the Commodification of Urban Culture,” in The Urban Reinventors Paper Series, 2007
This is part of a collection of quotes related to cities. They don't necessarily reflect our views, just topics of interest. We welcome you to add others.
Credits: Photo by Melissa García Lamarca.
+ share
