Project Description

The recent debate about the dynamism of urban areas, especially the central zones that have been affected by deterioration processes in the last decades, has arouse great interest in urban policy studies, attracting an increasing number of researchers. The growing focus on creativity and diversity as a stimulus to innovation and urban development has contributed to the emergence of new activities in the central areas of cities, called creative activities, which promote the employment and wealth generation. These activities are being responsible for the development of new residential logics and creative dynamics that are causing spatial changes visible, above all, in the increase of gentrification processes.

Tourism, which in some of its dimensions can be considered a creative industry, has been a continuous growth in the last decades, mainly in the central zones, contributing to the economic development of the cities. The recent debate on the link between tourism growth and the development of new residential logics, characterized by its innovative component, shows the importance attached to ‘short-term rentals’. This type of tourist accommodation is responsible for a series of spatial changes and transformative processes in the central zones of the cities, visible mainly in the new dynamics of the real estate market, the commercial landscape and the gentrification processes. Then, it is necessary to understand what implications these transformations have for urban policies.

Therefore, this PhD research explores the new dynamics and spatial changes in the central zones of the cities associated with the growth of new innovative activities and their implications for urban policies.

Research team

• Diana Silva
• Isabel Breda Vázquez (supervisor)

Financial Support

• FCT: PD/BD/128182/2016

Time Frame

• Started in 2017