Social Vulnerability and Touristification of Historic Centers

Abstract

Historic centers have suffered different processes of neglect, occupation, segregation, gentrification, and touristification as a result of changes in demand and policies. Currently, they are going through a homogenization process motivated by tourist pressure, which is causing the expulsion of the local population; this is a common topic of interest for media and political agendas, which requires scientific analysis. This research aims at identifying the winning and the losing tourist groups in the historic center of Seville. It is structured in two parts: a conceptual one based on the bibliographic review with which one wants to know how the current society responds to tourist pressure through defining and characterizing the processes of substitution of uses and inhabitants, and another empirical one in which the analysis of statistical indicators (demographic, economic, and residential) treated with Geographic Information System (GIS) allows us to measure the degree of existing vulnerability and analyze social and spatial effects caused by the tourism in Seville.

Comprehensive Evaluation of the Provincial Sustainable Tourismization Level in China and Its Temporal and Spatial Differences

“…These relationships are mainly reflected by the two-way flow of tourists and residents in geographical space and the various changes and relationships caused by this mobility. For instance, regional tourismization leads to changes in social demographics and residential space [11,15]. Tourism activities require a good living environment, ecological environment, infrastructure, and service facilities.…”

“…Tourismization has become such a typical phenomenon that urban tourismization is becoming a new direction within urban development. In addition to production and residential functions, in some cities, tourism function has gradually increased in importance [11]. As an essential force to promote the economic development of cities (represented by tourist cities), the tourism industry is becoming more and more closely integrated with the development of cities [10].…”

“…Social alerts due to tourist saturation have occurred particularly in historical central areas. It should be pointed out that the concept of tourismization is also considered by scholars to be associated with tourism-phobia and gentrification [11,14,15]. It can also change the nature of an area's heritage [16].…”

Citizen Action as a Driving Force of Change. The Meninas of Canido, Art in the Street as an Urban Dynamizer

“…According to the Eighth Report on Poverty in Spain [6], 8% of the population suffer from cold at home (in 2009, it was 7.2%), a quarter of those over 25 years old do not have their own income or earn less than 535 Euros a month, and 10% of workers continue to lose 25% of their income each year due to precarious job conditions. Additionally, regarding the housing problem and according to judiciary statistics, evictions continue, with a total of 368,591 recorded since 2013, of which 58.9% were for non-payment of rent and 41.1% for non-payment of mortgages [7].…”

“…They are vulnerable neighborhoods where degradation and neglect have been noted in the urban frame [13]. Numerous researchers have echoed the situation, analyzing the impact of the processes of negotiation of disposition [14], how austerity policies affect citizens' rights [15,16], and how gentrification and tourism affect the aggravation of the population's vulnerability, limiting access to housing due to the increase in purchase and rental prices [7,17,18]. Likewise, the central government has tried to analyze the problem by creating a vulnerability observatory published by the Atlas of Urban Vulnerability and the Atlas of Vulnerable Neighborhoods.…”