Museumification of Historical Centres: The Case of Frankfurt Altstadt Reconstruction

Curating pasts: musealization and tourism in Chinese cities

“…The musealization of urban spaces has been discussed in fields like cultural studies, heritage management, tourism studies, architecture, urban planning and other subfields of urban studies. Although scholars from different countries might use slightly different terms such as musealization (Nelle, 2009), museumification (Ashworth, 2011; Čamprag, 2017), museification (Baudrillard, 1981; Negrin, 1993) or museumization (Relph, 1976), they are referring to the same phenomenon.…”

“…For example, Baudrillard has described the museumified town of Creusot as being “fossilized alive as in a snapshot” (Baudrillard, 1981, p. 8). Other critics see museumification as a “manipulation of the past” (Čamprag, 2017, p. 166) for current needs and interests. Heritages are grasped as resources for tourism (Ashworth, 1998; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, 2004, 2014; Lowenthal, 2015); inner-city neighborhoods are gentrified and original residents are pushed out or silenced (Osterlund, 2013); memories are reproduced for consumption (Huyssen, 1995; Korff, 1999; Winter, 2001; Simine, 2013); histories are selectively highlighted or omitted for aesthetic, economic or political reasons (Ashworth, 1998; Kubiena, 2012; Smith, 2014).…”

“…Case studies from Europe, Asia and South America show that intentionally (or unintentionally) using musealization may help with the “requalification, revitalisation and rehabilitation (Nelle, 2009, p. 168)” of cultural heritage in urban spaces. It also has the potential to empower local residents and promote cultural codevelopment (Nelle, 2009; Osterlund, 2013; Čamprag, 2017; Nikolopoulou, 2019; Aykaç, 2019; Guedes, 2021).…”