1225 | 574 | Touristification from a gender perspective | Sara Larrabure
In this presentation I will combine key feminist urbanism concepts to explore the impact of visitor mobility on the everyday life of local populations, particularly women. On the one hand, literature on urban tourism has identified that tourism growth in residential areas disrupts residents’ lives by driving several changes. Some of these changes include the disappearance of proximity commerce in favour of businesses focused on tourists and the increase in price of consumer goods. The loss of recreational areas caused by the privatization of public spaces and the weakening of mutual support networks are also highlighted in the literature. On the other hand, gender studies have shown that although the number of women working outside the home is increasing, they continue to be responsible for the majority of caring and domestic activities. As a result, their daily lives depend to a large extent on proximity commerce, public pedestrian space and local social capital that facilitate community care activities. This study is part of a PhD project that aims to investigate the effects of tourism in Lisbon city centre by promoting a conversation between the literature on the impacts of urban tourism and feminist urbanism. The hypothesis is that the marketing of the city as a tourist commodity linked to patriarchal structures can reinforce gender inequality and offer even more challenges to vulnerable groups such as women, as tourism transforms spaces and services necessary for social reproduction. More specifically, the PhD project uses feminist epistemologies to incorporate the distinct lived experiences of women, through an intersectional study, rejecting the existence of universal subjects. I argue for the incorporation of feminism urbanism as a social justice theory and praxis in urban policy strategies in tourist cities.
Sara Larrabure
University of Lisbon, Centre for Geographical Studies, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, Portugal
ID Abstract: 574