‘We are waiting for the end’: ageing and (im)mobility in the tourist city

Abstract

Many tourist cities rely on walking as form of slow travel to take in the destination. Venice, the case study for this paper, is a distinct ‘walking city’, scripted into its cultural landscape along with its visitor crowds. As in other historical cities, however, crowding compromises residents’ walking mobility. This particularly affects groups that rely on proximate mobility such as older residents. This paper delves into the effects of tourism on everyday mobilities and realities of coping with change in the tourist city. It thus uncovers repercussions on ‘those remaining’ and highlights how the privilege of slowness may become a condition of disadvantage. It engages with long-term biographies, walking experiences, and the ageing process itself during an empirical study consisting of walking interviews. The findings show how tourist mobilities collide with access to spaces of social activity, essential services, and neighbourhood life. More importantly, they bring to surface how residents negotiate these hindrances and seek opportunities for mobility and wellbeing, despite older age-related challenges arising from the exclusive uptake of slow mobilities. Eventually, this paper forms a critique that discloses the collateral nature of tourism impacts on ageing in place, stuck between global mobility flows and local tourism management choices.