City and Tourism
Debate
We are working with academics, writers, artists, and thinkers on a long-term project that aims to consider tourism as a global phenomenon and analyse tourist activity at the intersection between the right to leisure and its far-reaching urban and environmental impact.
Tourism is unquestionably one of the most characteristic mass phenomena of the contemporary world. Travelling has literally expanded the frontiers of culture and leisure and democratised a privilege that was once exclusively reserved for a small elite. Despite the hiatus of the pandemic, tourism continues to be a growing sector in the world economy and already represents 7.6% of the global GDP. For some countries and cities like Barcelona, where it represents around 14% of the GDP, it has been a key driver of transformation with far-reaching consequences.
However, the popularisation of tourism is not exempt from significant risks in terms of its effects on climate and urban life, in matters that frequently give rise to controversy, including commerce, housing, heritage conservation, and even coexistence among neighbours. How can we approach tourism in the 21st century if we are to find answers to these challenges?
Tourism is also a phenomenon which, in addition to its economic and environmental impact, has created powerful symbolic universes and shaped contemporary subjectivities. Analysing the imaginaries of tourism today is one way of rethinking the concepts of leisure, rest, and recreation in the contemporary world.
With this programme, the CCCB is embarking a long-term project of thinking about the complexity of the phenomenon of tourism by programming a wide array of formats and activities that will bring together academics, writers, artists, and thinkers from different fields.
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