Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The urban core is no longer the defining and controlling influence upon development.
Instead, Dear and Flusty (1998) argued that a Keno capitalism had developed where a
collage of non-contiguous consumption-oriented spaces develop. The process of
urbanisation and development is far more complex in shaping tourism and leisure spaces.
As a result, Page and Hall (2002) produce a model of tourism in the postmodern city
where capital defines the nature, form and extent of consumption experiences. The
tourism and leisure landscapes that emerge are part of a mosaic of social and cultural
layers that add diversity to the urban fabric. The visitor may not easily recognise the
tourist city as a distinct entity, since the patchwork of consumption experiences are often
grouped into zones.
Figure 5.6a identifies a series of processes at work, including gentrification,
interconnected zones of tourism and leisure where the conventional downtown area is
rivalled by more space-extensive out-of-town areas, such as Garreau's (1991)
Edge City
and Hannigan's (1998)
Fantasy City
(e.g. a theme park/entertainment zone). These
developments further accentuate social exclusion and social polarity as Figure 5.6b
suggests, as neighbourhoods are cleared by gentrification and marginalised by the
emergence of consumption-oriented activities in former housing areas. This contributes
to the development of what Roche (2000) called the 'new
Figure 5.6a:
Tourism, leisure and the
postmodern city
