Transforming tourist urban spaces by CCTV – an empirical study in Montpellier

Abstract

The theory of Code/Space suggests that, in course of processes of digitalization, software and code become new agents in the production of space. Hence, CCTV should therefore also be a space-producing agent. In context of the ongoing dispersion of CCTV, this article studies empirically the transformation of urban spaces by CCTV in context of tourism and tries to evaluate the Code/Space proposition. Therefore, in 2018 and 2019 a multi-layered extensive qualitative research with mapping, several observations, and qualitative interviews were carried out in Montpellier, France. The results show a diversion between ‘classical’ sight-seeing tourists and predominantly young tourists visiting friends and relatives with a smooth transition between the opposing extremes with many shades in between. While former proclaim to be strictly uninfluenced and mostly in favor of surveillance, they nevertheless change their spatial behavior indirectly following the changing spatial behaviors and practices of inhabitants. On the other end of the spectrum predominantly young tourists visiting friends and relatives specifically look for non-supervised spaces in order to hang out in the late evening and night, often accompanied by a total rejection of supervision. The article concludes that CCTV does alter and change the urban tourist space, trying to create a space favoring sight-seeing tourists, displacing other forms of tourism and place usage to non-supervised spaces off the spotlight.

摘要

代码/空间理论表明, 在数字化过程中, 软件和代码成为空间生产的新主体。因此, 闭路电视监控系统（CCTV）也应该因此成为空间生产的一个主体。本文在闭路电视监控系统不断散布的背景下, 对旅游背景下闭路电视监控系统对城市空间的转变进行了实证研究, 并试图对其代码/空间命题进行评价。因此, 在2018年和2019年, 在法国蒙彼利埃进行了一项多层面的、广泛的定性研究, 包括绘图、一些观察和定性访谈。研究结果显示, 在“传统”观光游客和主要以年轻人为主的探亲访友游客之间有一个平稳的过渡, 这两个极端之间有许多细微的区隔。虽然前者宣称完全不受影响, 且大多倾向于支持监视, 但他们却随着居民空间行为实践的变化而间接地改变了空间行为。在连续谱的另一端, 主要是年轻人去拜访亲友, 专门寻找没有人监控的地方, 以便在深夜和夜晚闲逛, 通常伴随着完全拒绝监控。本文认为, 闭路电视监控系统确实对城市旅游空间进行了改变, 试图创造一个有利于观光旅游者的空间, 将其他形式的旅游和场所使用替代为不受监督的聚光灯外的空间。

Keywords:

• CCTV
• Code/Space
• digitalization
• urban tourism
• tourism nightlife
• spatial visitor behavior

关键词：:

• 闭路电视监控系统;代码/空间;数字化;城市旅游;旅游夜生活;访客空间行为

Acknowledgments

The research reported here was conducted with generous support of the German Academic Exchange Service under grant number 57388835.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Bauder

Dr. Michael Bauder is a post-doctoral research associate at the Institute for Environmental Social Sciences and Geography, University of Freiburg (Germany). Since 2011 Michael worked primarily on GIS and GIScience, tourism geography, and mobility, focusing among others on GPS tracking methods and their implementation in a social science perspective. Beginning in 2014 he extended his research to the emerging fields of Digital Geography, VGI/AGI, and Big Data, including processes of digitization of society and research.