Analysing Residential Preferences for Urban Redevelopment in Tourism Destinations: An Application of Choice Experiments

ABSTRACT

In a number of European heritage cities, concerns are raised that tourism has become unsustainable and that a city space is created – by design or organically – which primarily caters to visitors. In order to preserve a vibrant mix between visitors and locals, development strategies need to recognize residents’ preferences. This paper introduces a discrete choice experiment to identify preferences of different residential groups in Amsterdam. Findings show that all resident groups attach high value to green areas and the improvement of commercial establishments. On the other hand, additional public transportation is only favoured by users residing outside of the historic centre. The potential for overcrowding is an ongoing concern, specifically for local residents. The findings reveal the need to account for individual variations in preferences and to reconcile the potentially conflicting objectives of cities of increasing local liveability, while creating, at the same time, an attractive visitor environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Discrete choice experiments
• urban tourism
• entrepreneurial city
• residential preferences
• urban redevelopment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.