Cities as International Commodities

In post-industrial urban society, cities are fighting to remain economically viable without traditional income sources (such as manufacturing or processing of goods) which once drove urban economies. Tourism emerged as a way for cities to maximize the income generating power of their city centers. As technology has led to a globalization of tourist travel, fierce competition began between urban centers. This is how our contemporary transient tourist culture developed to the extreme where sports teams moving from city to city, and metropolises compete to build the flashiest new tourist icon.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

The commodification of the tourism industry can be seen in the creation of tourist ghettos within city centers. In an effort to draw tourists into often dangerous downtown areas, cities have sought to create isolated tourist communities- marketing and re-packaging historic downtown cores. In many North American city centers, these are shopping centers “cordoned off and designed to… keep undesirables out of touristic compounds and reserves”. Chicago is a good example of this kind of tourist segregation, where the primary focus of urban regeneration has been along the tourist circuit (the Loop, Michigan Avenue, Navy Pier, and the Museum Campus), culminating with Millennium Park- a massive spectacle designed to attract visitors from around the world.

The city of Las Vegas epitomizes the marketing of a city as a consumer product. Gambling was legalized in order “to tap into the underground gambling economy”. The problem with development in Las Vegas is that the city’s finances have always been controlled by outside forces (first, the mob- then corporations), meaning that “Despite the tremendous wealth that pours through the Las Vegas economy, very little of it, compared with other states and cities, is reinvested in the community”. That wealth is used to improve individual developments, not improve the urban fabric of the city.

Citycenter Las Vegas

One of the most popular tourist attractions in the city of New York (known as a cultural capital) is the entirely contrived experience of Times Square. This manufactured environment based on excess consumerism attracts visitors from around the world to go to shops and restaurants they have access to in their home towns. The success of this district questions the need for (and definition of) authentic urbanism. The juxtaposition of manufactured and “‘real’ media locales like the NBC News Studio at Rockefeller Center” further questions the definition of authentic.

Times Square, New York City

The city-state of Singapore is a perfect example of tourism based urban development. This included building a modern airport, zoo, golf courses, botanical gardens, the largest observation wheel in the world, and two muti-billion dollar casinos in an effort to attract visitors. As a highly developed country, most Singaporeans can take advantage of the lavish facilities created for tourists such as the public transportation network, gardens & public spaces, and air conditioned shopping malls. This high-standard built environment has further served to attract international business and conferences, encouraging an even more diverse economy.

Gardens by the Bay & the Singapore Flyer

The authors of The Tourist City state that “Cities are sold just like any other consumer product”, arguing that the urban area is a commodity. I would disagree, and say that cities are continuing to function as marketplaces for goods. Judd states that “Basically, the total of places with genuine historic interest or aesthetic merit is limited, while the numbers intending to see them, particularly during the summer months, are escalating rapidly”. Cities are taking advantage of this demand by creating artificial experiences which satisfy the human craving for new experiences.

Article by Jonathan Choe with selected quotes from The Tourist City by Judd and Fanstein