Touristification of urban centres: An attempt to clarify the debate

Abstract

Cities are extraordinarily dynamic tourist destinations. Visitors and tourist activities are concentrated in urban centres, undergoing intense processes of touristification. Based on a bibliographic review, a study of these processes is undertaken, taking into account their causes, manifestations and effects on the city. The main objective of the article is to attempt to clarify a debate that has transcended the academic sphere to become an outstanding component of the contemporary urban agenda. On the level of the state of the question, points of continuity and innovation are identified in the studies about the impact of tourism in the city. With regard to the nature of the phenomenon, a distinction is made between manifestations that only imply an intensification of previous problems and changes of probable disruptive scope, such as the proliferation of housing for tourist use.