A new urban diagnostics approach for measuring touristification: The case of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Abstract

In the last decades the global tourist industry has been transformed by rapid growth, resulting in many destinations reaching a state of touristification. This phenomenon is a socioeconomic and spatial transformation process that can contribute to the creation of a tourism monoculture.

This study aims to measure the level of touristification found in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (MAB), focussing on social, spatial and environmental aspects. The study's originality lies at the territorial level of research. The primary intended outcome of the research is to provide an analytic methodology to support informed decision-making for sustainable urban tourism policies at the metropolitan level.

In the MAB a polycentric pattern of touristification can be observed in an area that is currently undergoing two processes: the increase of tourism supplies in the first ring of MAB municipalities and the distribution of tourism fluxes on the coastal destinations. Furthermore, four typologies of municipalities have been established based on their level of touristification growth. Finally, this study demonstrates the importance of discussing these processes at the metropolitan level and providing a methodology relevant to other metropolises worldwide.