Abstract
This chapter analyses the tourism and urban dynamics transformations of the two leading cities in Portugal – Lisbon and Porto. In a (neo)liberal context and within a process of financialization of the economy, the authors address the political vision of each city, the local stakeholders and residents' evaluation, and public policies analysis. This chapter concludes that the implications of recent transformations are numerous. The process of residential and functional gentrification, resulting mainly from the touristification of the city, and the concomitant growth of the floating population, was slowed down by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, housing and services prices are still high, and the unavailability of housing is indeed a problem. Thus, integrated, strategic, and collaborative planning for sustainable urban development is assumed as a crucial issue for the next decade.
TopIntroduction
The tourism sector is a fundamental social, cultural and economic activity with a relevant capacity for generating wealth and employment creation. Moreover, it has been increasing its relevance in several places in the world before 2020. Between 2010 and 2019, the average annual growth rate in Portugal was 7.2% in overnight stays, which translated into an increase from 37 million nights in 2010 to just over 70 million in 2019. Tourist revenues also saw an average annual change rate of 10.3% over the last ten years, increasing from 7.6 billion to 18.4 billion (INE, 2021a).
Being the last year before Covid, 2019 registered several records for tourism in Portugal. That is the case of tourist accommodation units (hotels, local accommodation, rural tourism), which welcomed almost 27 million guests, 60% of them coming from abroad. The Tourism Satellite Account, released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE, 2021b), indicates that in that year i) tourist demand was equivalent to 15.3% of the national gross domestic product (7.6% more than in 2018); ii) Gross Added Value (GAV) generated by tourism represented 8.4% of the total GAV of the national economy; iii) employment in the activities directly related with tourism, measured in full-time equivalent, represented 9.4% of the national total, increasing 7.4%, and largely surpassing the employment growth in the national economy (3.1%).
However, as it is well known, the COVID-19 pandemic would prove to be highly damaging (Gretzel et al., 2021; Abbas et al., 2021; García-Gómez et al., 2021; Gössling et al., 2021; Rather, 2021; Soliku et al., 2021). According to the World Tourism Organization (World Tourism Organization, 2022), world tourism in 2020 suffered a decrease in international arrivals of 74%, and global destinations received one billion fewer international arrivals, compared to the previous year, due to travel restrictions and an unprecedented fall in demand.
In line with the world situation, Portugal recorded a sharp drop in demand, for 25.9 million overnight stays (-63.0%), whose total is equivalent to the numbers registered in 1994. There was also a sharp decrease in international demand, with 12.3 million overnight stays for foreigners (-74.9%) due to restrictions imposed on cross-border travel for most of 2020. The national market recorded 13.6 million nights (-35.4%). The decrease in revenues (-57.6%) meant a loss of 10 billion euros for the national economy in 2020 compared to 2019 (INE, 2021a). According to the Tourism Satellite Account (INE, 2021b), the Gross Added Value (GAV) generated by tourism represented 4.6% of the national GAV. In comparison, tourism activity was equivalent to 8.0% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (INE, 2021b). The activities that were the more significant contributors to tourism GDP, such as accommodation services, cafes and restaurants, transport (especially air transport) and rental services, were amongst those that suffered the most severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In numbers, the loss in tourist GDP generated by these activities was between 48% and 55%.
Spatially, the “touristic cities” were the most affected, as people avoided the most crowded places. There was a sharp difference in the economy and atmosphere in several cities, especially in the biggest and those that used to depend more on tourism. In Portugal, Lisbon and Porto had a more significant impact from the breakdown caused by the pandemic. In 2019 it was reported that Lisbon had more Airbnb than Barcelona, Paris, Rome or Amsterdam, being the European capital with more local accommodation per inhabitant (according to Moody’s data, which counted more than 30 homes registered on Airbnb per thousand inhabitants, cited by Chamusca, 2021). According to the Institute of Tourism Planning and Development, which calculated the tourist pressure on Portuguese cities and compared them to other European cities, Lisbon (9) and Porto (8) had more tourists per resident than London and Barcelona (INE, 2021b), two of the European cities with more annual tourists.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Planning: A set of actions that, starting from the analysis of reality and the definition of some objectives to be achieved, supposes the use of a plan elaborated with scientific, technical or political criteria, and its application through a opportunely organized procedure.
Local Stakeholders: A group of actors, individual or collective, who, due to their connection to the city (as residents, entrepreneurs, workers, members of associations, or other), are part of the process of territorial transformation and can participate in decision-making processes.
Cities: Area of population concentration, with markedly urban morphological, functional, and social characteristics. They are the main areas of population and economic settlement, concentrating conditions of administrative, economic, accessibility, and symbolic centrality.
Inhabitants: A group of people who permanently reside in a city or territory.
Governance: Territorial management model in which the planning, management and action functions of democratically elected governments are complemented by networks and partnerships with the private sector and civil society, promoting their empowerment and effective participation in decision-making processes.
Sustainability: Balanced model of management and development of territories and societies. It presupposes a rational use of existing resources, ensuring the balance of the environment and the development capacity of future generations.
Tourism: A specific type of leisure characterized by moving from one's usual place of residence and involving a minimum duration, unlike other recreational activities of a domestic nature, usually daily.
Public Policies: A public policy is an action promoted by public entities, with a sense and intention that involves a complex set of decisions and operators, and a planned, non-casual decision-making process that takes place in time and aims to achieve goals through certain averages. It presupposes conflicts, compromises, coalitions, and convenient transactions.