Overtourism, place alienation and the right to the city: insights from the historic centre of Seville, Spain

Abstract

Increasing international travel flows across the planet have drawn attention to socio-spatial justice concerning the impact of tourism and transnational gentrification in cities. We suggest that the growth of tourists and lifestyle migrants can potentially shrink or even deprive a social right to the city. The early work of philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre, particularly The Right to the City (1968), offer valuable elements to understand the potential alienation of local residents from the city centre in the context of a tourism-led urban economy. Several questions arise in this context that are explored here: What injustices arise through the socio-spatial processes and transformation of social spaces due to rapid tourism growth and overtourism? What contribution does Lefebvre’s theoretical work make to current studies on overtourism overall? We examine these questions through a case study in Seville, Andalusia (Spain). It illustrates how its residents lose the right to everyday life in the historic centre and become alienated from their local spaces. Mechanisms of commodification and gentrification contribute to socio-spatial injustices and also make the city “inauthentic” for visitors and residents. In this sense, the right to live and enjoy the city are lost to both groups.

Keywords:

• Gentrification
• Lefebvre
• overtourism
• place alienation
• right to the city
• socio-spatial justice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Iban Diaz-Parra

Iban Diaz-Parra: Postdoctoral fellow at University of Seville, Department of Human Geography. Facultad de Geografía e Historia, C/ Doña María de Padilla, S/N, C.P: 41004 (Sevilla). Díaz Parra has an Undergraduate Degree in Geography and in Social and Cultural Anthropology and a PhD in Human Geography by the University of Seville. Between 2007 and 2012 he was a lecturer at the universities of Seville and Cadiz. From then on, he has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (2013-2015), at the University of Buenos Aires (2015-2017) and, currently, at the University of Seville (2017-). He has focused his research on socio-spatial processes and conflicts, more specifically socio-spatial segregation, gentrification and more recently, on socio-spatial effects of overtourism. He has organized several academic events and monographies about these topics. He is currently working as the coordinator of the Iberoamerican Framework of Researchers in Urban Policy, Conflicts and Movements.

Jaime Jover

Jaime Jover: Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Lisbon, School of Geography and Spatial Planning. Edifício IGOT, Rua Branca Edmée Marques, Cidade Universitária, 1600-276 Lisboa, Portugal. Jaime Jover is post-doctoral researcher at the School of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Lisbon, working on the project ‘Smartour: Tourism, holiday rentals and rehabilitation: smart urban policies for a sustainable future’. Master in Architecture and Historical Heritage (2013) and PhD. in Geography (2017) by the University of Seville, he has previously taught courses at the Human Geography Department and the Osuna College at the same university. His lines of research include urban geography and tourism, cultural heritage and social movements.