Turismo, Cultura e Regeneração Urbana. O renascimento das pequenas e médias cidades

Abstract

Pearce, in his article produced in 2001, claimed that a significant part of the research undertaken on urban tourism was related to the contribution of tourism and culture to the regeneration of cities. Recently, Ashworth and Page (2011) reinforced Pearce’s argument mentioning the importance of cultural quarters for tourism. Cultural quarters are key instruments for the urban regeneration, the increment of cultural production and the development of tourism and are a significant object of academic investigation. Having in view the mentioned reasons this articles focused in the emergence, development and current developments on cultural quarters. The success of the cultural quarters is not a privilege of world cities, as some researchers claim, but also a characteristic of a considerable number of small and medium cities. Yet,
theoretical investigation on urban studies, including urban tourism, is dominated by big cities and especially by global cities leaving behind the vast majority of small and medium size cities.