A systemic model of the sustainable urban tourism insertion in the digital, smart and knowledge city of Mexico City

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose a systemic model for the urban tourism insertion in the Digital, Smart and Knowledge City (DSKC) of Mexico City (CDMX) due to the recent and considerable economic importance of this kind of tourism in innovative and competitive cities. Based on this understanding, a diagnosis of the urban tourism role in the DSKC of CDMX was developed by using the systems thinking. Therefore, the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) was applied, because of its holistic vision, and the technological and social components it involves. The Strategic Direction Model (SDM) was also used in a complementary and parallel way to the SSM. The findings allowed us to detect, among other aspects, the problem situations such as the inexistence of a document which contains the development of the DSKC, and the lack of articulation between the components of the urban tourism and the DSKC. For that reason, some elements were established in order to design a conceptual model. This research finishes by using the Viable System Model (VSM), to validate this construct and, at the same time, provide it with substantial elements, such as innovation, ICT, sustainability, and accessibility, in which tourism and cities have been immersed recently.