Chapter 1 Ambiance, tourism, and the city: An introduction

Abstract

Ambiance, Tourism and the City considers how tourism and urban development affect the lived ambiances of contemporary cities around the world. As most of the existing literature on sensory atmospheres says little about the intersection between tourism and atmospheric production, this book affirms the centrality of the notion of ambiance as a mode of inquiry into the making and remaking of urban places for tourist consumption. The book takes the reader into the sensory worlds of a traditional Italian marketplace, a jungle park in Kuala Lumpur, a slum in the Colombian city of Medellín, or the ""sun and sand"" tourism destinations in Southern Spain, among other case studies. It offers new insights into the impact of tourism on the urban environment from multidisciplinary perspectives and a wide range of geographical regions across Europe, North America, Asia, and South America. Through these contemporary case studies, the book further deepens our understanding of the ways in which ""ambiances"" and ""atmospheres"" pervade the physical regeneration and sensory transformation of contemporary tourist destinations. Conversely, this book offers insights on the effects of tourism on everyday urban experience. By bringing together a diverse group of scholars and case studies to present a global perspective on the atmospheric production of the tourist city, this book is to serve as a valuable reference tool for researchers and undergraduate and postgraduate students with an interest in urban ambiances, tourism, cultural geography, and urban planning.