Gentrification in Porto: floating city users and internationally-driven urban change

The heightening scale of urban tourism and the fast-growing number of “floating” city users raise new challenges to understand contemporary urban change – namely for internationally open, heritage-rich medium-sized cities. Discussing the case of Porto at a time when the contested notion of gentrific...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Carvalho, Luís (author)
Other Authors: Chamusca, Pedro Miguel Magalhães Nunes (author), Fernandes, José Alberto Vieira Rio (author), Pinto, Jorge (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10316/89034
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:estudogeral.sib.uc.pt:10316/89034
Description
Summary:The heightening scale of urban tourism and the fast-growing number of “floating” city users raise new challenges to understand contemporary urban change – namely for internationally open, heritage-rich medium-sized cities. Discussing the case of Porto at a time when the contested notion of gentrification infuses local politics, we highlight the transnational drivers of this process in Portugal´s second city. While acknowledging perils and benefits, we argue that more than simply leaving a footprint to be solved with taxation, internationally-driven gentrification may endanger city diversity and identity, raising implications for urban policy and for our understanding of local development as a whole.