AESOP Annual Congress Venice 2019 - Track #15 Tourism, Public Space and Urban Culture

Over the last decade, public spaces have received an attention more than ever in urban research, policy and public debates as a facilitator of diverse, equal and democratic urban cultures. These debates are underlined by the decline of welfare state model and a rise in the neo-liberal approach to urban development to promote city's position in global competitiveness in order to achieve its economic success and prosperity. Among others, tourism has been seen as one of the key drivers of economic success. This implies that investments are not evenly distributed at the city level but concentrated in some selected parts of the city, such as historical city parts, waterfronts, business hubs for finance and high-tech industries, and neighbourhoods for creative industries. Some of the consequences of these developments are: social and spatial segregation, lack of public participation in the urban planning and design processes, gentrification in the central neighbourhoods, privatisation and control of urban space, marginalization of some social groups based on their gender, race and religion, dislocation of neighbourhood residents, and lack of accessibility and distribution of amenities. This track welcomes theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions addressing the role of public spaces in promoting a diverse, equal and democratic urban cultures, including, but not limited to the following aspects: o public space between global and local mobility o tangible and intangible heritage and public space o urban change and public spaces in transition o urban spatial and social justice o tourism and impact urban transformation o social innovations o centre-periphery relations and imbalances o gentrification, o circular and sharing economy models and tourism o self-organization and democratic place-making processes o environmental dimension of urban public space