Tourism, culture and regeneration

Abstract

Abstract This book examines the destinations and sites that are being created for tourists, as well as for local people within an urban regeneration context, with a particular focus on tourism's relationship to urban regeneration and cultural development. It examines the impact of such developments on a local sense of place, heritage and identity. It examines how far, arts and artistic quality/integrity is compromised by being used as a tool for regeneration. It examines if global/local debates can be resolved within the context of regeneration, and how. These issues and others are exemplified using a number of international case studies in North and South America, as well as in Europe and the UK. Chapter 1 examines the issues and problems inherent in implementing urban regeneration projects and highlights the increasingly important role that culture and tourism play in the process. Chapter 2 examines the increasingly important role of creativity in urban regeneration. Chapter 3 examines the regeneration of new or less familiar areas of cities, and their development for tourism purposes. Chapter 4 examines mixed-use developments in city fringe areas, especially those with culturally diverse or ethnic populations. Chapter 5 examines the development of ethnoscapes or those areas of cities with a high concentration of ethnic minorities, and analyses the way in which multiculturalism has become an increasingly attractive selling point for city tourism. Chapter 6 examines some of the difficulties of interpreting and commemorating spaces of dissonant heritage in black heritage sites in New Jersey, USA. Chapter 7 examines the complexities that exist within large-scale, mixed-use development projects through the example of the newly developed Waterfront City of Odaiba in Tokyo, Japan. Chapter 8 examines the role of major sporting events in urban regeneration, tourism development, image enhancement and social inclusion. Chapter 9 examines the role of the Olympic Games in the regeneration of U.S. cities. Chapter 10 examines the role of the cultural industries in the regeneration of former industrial cities, focusing in particular on Lowell, Massachusetts in New England, USA. Chapter 11 examines how Chicago, a city in the USA that previously was dependent on the manufacturing industry, has sought to improve its economic position and raises its national and international profile via locally-driven strategies focused on facilitating the physical, economic and cultural restructuring of its downtown area. Chapter 12 examines the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia, USA, as an example of a project that has been largely successful due to charismatic leadership, dynamic fund-raising campaigns and coordinated public and private partnerships. Chapter 13 examines the problems and the potential benefits of waterfront developments in the context of regeneration. Chapter 14 examines the changing role of dockland cities and urban regeneration strategies, focusing in particular on case studies of Liverpool and Cardiff in the UK. Chapter 15 examines the use of interpretative planning in the context of Recife, Brazil. In conclusion, the richness, creativity, innovation and ambition of regeneration projects is indicated in a wide range of contexts. But cultural, tourism or urban development, cannot compensate for economic decline, environmental decay or social unrest. They can only alleviate some of the problems and tensions, and give new hope to cities. It would be misguided to suggest that there could be a 'checklist' for all cities hoping to embark on a 'successful' regeneration scheme, especially given that similar schemes can easily fail in different contexts. However, several factors seem to emerge as being rather critical to the future of regeneration. Whatever the context - be it Europe, the USA, Asia, Australasia - the issues and dilemmas surrounding cultural regeneration are broadly similar. Pessimists might conclude that regeneration is just another 'flash-in-the-pan' phenomenon that has helped to plug the gaps in economic and social decline. However, it is argued that within the academic/practitioner community, there is excitement, dynamism and great hope in the future for the phenomenon of regeneration.