The Changing Geography of Urban Tourism: Will the Center Hold?

Abstract

During the last quarter of a century, urban centers in the United States have invested significant resources to develop a physical infrastructure to support the economic sectors of tourism and leisure. Cities of all sizes in Europe and the U.S. are aggressively promoting tourism and related sectors, and much of this activity is occurring outside the urban core. Using the case of metropolitan Chicago, this paper focuses on the evolving geography of urban tourism by examining how four satellite cities have embraced a strategy of development that mirrors the city of Chicago's strategy. In this paper we argue that, at least in the case of some metropolitan areas in the U.S., tourism development at the urban periphery may compete with and therefore slow the pace of redevelopment at the urban core.

Additional information

Costas Spirou is Professor and Chair of the Department of Government and Sociology at Georgia College & State University.

Dennis R. Judd is Professor and Department Head of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago.