Gentrification in Porto: floating city users and internationally-driven urban change

• Autor(a) principal: Carvalho, Luís
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Chamusca, Pedro Miguel Magalhães Nunes, Fernandes, José Alberto Vieira Rio, Pinto, Jorge
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/89034; https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1585139
• topic: Transnational gentrification; touristification; studentification; retail; holiday rentals

The heightening scale of urban tourism and the fast-growing number of “floating” city users raise new challenges to understand contemporary urban change – namely for internationally open, heritage-rich medium-sized cities. Discussing the case of Porto at a time when the contested notion of gentrification infuses local politics, we highlight the transnational drivers of this process in Portugal´s second city. While acknowledging perils and benefits, we argue that more than simply leaving a footprint to be solved with taxation, internationally-driven gentrification may endanger city diversity and identity, raising implications for urban policy and for our understanding of local development as a whole.