Mobilities (not to be confused with social mobility) refers to the movement of people, objects, capital and information, and to the social meaning, implications and contexts of such movements. It distinguishes itself from movement because of this aspect: movement does not require meaning, while mobilities have meaning attached to them (what does it mean to go to one place instead of the other, what some places represent to some people and how these meanings change according to the individual, etc.).
Published in Chapter:
Gentrifiers Against Gentrification: Tourism Gentrification in Algarve, South Portugal
Jorge André Guerreiro (Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal) and João Filipe Marques (Faculty of Economics and Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability, and Well-Being (CinTurs), University of Algarve, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3156-3.ch001
Abstract
This chapter presents a case-study of tourism gentrification in a fishing town in Algarve, South Portugal. Olhão is a former industrial city that saw much of its fishing industry disappear since the 1980s. Over the last few years, hundreds of foreigners have moved into its historic centre. This rapid influx of citizens to derelict neighbours mostly comprised of old retirees and few active fishermen prompted a gentrification process. Olhão now faces the threat of mass displacements of its older and most vulnerable citizens, a fact that is worrying the foreigners that criticize the touristification of the city, with rents at historical highs and landlords forcing out the Portuguese residents in order to promote short-term rentals to tourists. The chapter presents the results obtained from an extensive mixed-methods research, ending with some notes about the future of the city and the implications that can be taken from this case.