In this case, the advice is not how to create great urban spaces or how to lever architecture and heritage as integral part of urban identity. But rather, the consequences of too much success.
Is Tourism Ruining Barcelona? asks Feargus O’Sullivan in Atantic Cities.
A new documentary called Bye Bye Barcelona … shows some long-term residents wondering aloud how much longer they can stay where they are. The problem? Tourism, specifically a local industry that has become so dominant it risks stifling ordinary, everyday life in the city’s heart.
Panning across street after street of pedestrian gridlock, fast food joints and souvenir shops, the film’s record of locals shooed away by the constant visitor footfall offers a cautionary tale for any city that tourists love.
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Rick Antonson, the retiring CEO of Tourism Vancouver, referenced the above in his farewell address to the hundreds who attended his ‘last speech’ (I kinda doubt it) at the West Convention Centre – one of the many outcomes during his time at TV. Rick has a great ability to put forth challenging ideas, often at odds to the rah-rah, bigger-is-better tourism stereotypes, in the most disarming way. It’s one of the reasons many thought he’d make a great mayoral candidate, and why he’ll be missed as he heads off to Cairns with five book ideas to be realized.
But we’ll see him back here, I hope, on one of his many soon-to-be book tours.
