Tourism and the Urban Environment

Dear Colleagues,

Urban tourism experienced remarkable growth during the first two decades of the 21st century, following a global trend toward the concentration of populations in cities and metropolitan areas. This process of intense urbanization has been broadly characterized by large investments in infrastructures, facilities, and services to increase livability (such as green parks, efficient and high-quality public transport, pedestrian areas, bicycle lines, and other forms of promotion of environmentally sustainable urban practices) and a strong development of aspects related to cultural heritage, creativity, and innovation, supporting and promoting a reinforcement of social interactions and local social capital (historic urban landscapes, monuments, museums, art galleries, music halls, theaters, or other elements related to traditional forms of gastronomy, handicrafts, or traditional knowledge).

While contributing toward attracting creative, highly qualified, and wealthy new residents, these new investments also reinforced the role of cities as tourism attractions. By combining the effects of scale and scope (a large number and high diversity of services and facilities for different consumer preferences), urban settlements gradually became important magnets for short-break visitors, also taking advantage of the development of quick and efficient terrestrial transport networks (like high-speed trains) or the availability of low-cost air carriers. This development, however, also contributed to the emergence or intensification of new urban problems, such as those related to CO2 emissions generated by air transport, the commodification of culture and loss of significance of local knowledge and traditions, localized inflation processes, or new forms of gentrification.

This Special Issue addresses this broad set of questions, including aspects related to tourism planning, management and marketing in urban areas, relations between residents and tourists in contemporary cities, or the different positive and negative impacts of tourism. Certainly, analysis of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism in cities, along with subsequent strategies for recovery, are also within the concerns and scope of this Special Issue. Original quantitative or qualitative research, conceptual or theoretical approaches and discussions focusing on economic, social, or institutional aspects of the sustainable development of tourism in cities, along with other relevant analyses of its importance, significance, or problems can be addressed. Possible topics to be addressed include (but are not limited to):

• historic urban landscapes and tourism;
• material and immaterial heritage and urban tourism;
• urban tourism and cultural dynamics;
• creative economies and urban tourism;
• urban green parks and tourist attractions;
• tourists and urban mobility and transportation networks;
• ICT, co-creation, and innovation in urban tourism;
• tourism and city marketing;
• tourism and city planning and management;
• participatory governance of urban tourism;
• urban tourism and gentrification;
• tourists, residents, and the city;
• impacts of COVID-19 on urban tourism;
• post-COVID recovery for tourism in cities.
  
  

Dr. João Romão
Dr. Yahua Bi
Guest Editors

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• tourism cities
• urban tourism
• livability
• governance
• planning