European tourist cities in transformation: constructing age-friendly tourism mobilities

By 2050, two-thirds of the population will live in cities, with people over 65 as the fastest growing cohort. In the EU, their share is projected to increase from 17.5% in 2010 to 29.5% in 2060.

At the same time, intense movements of people, vehicles, capital and information challenge the sustainability and social inclusion in cities as they are.

Such developments rapidly alter the requirements of currently dominant mobility systems, to cater for the needs of all people visiting or residing in the city.

Recent urban transformations are producing new mobility clashes and encounters, which are felt by some groups more than others.

Tourist cities are places where such clashes may be most intense and manifold, as they act as visitor hub and home to diverse resident and working populations.

Population ageing requires a new understanding of the experiences of urban tourism spaces, at a time when the instability of mainstream city tourism has come to surface.ENTOURAGE unites mobilities, ageing and tourism studies to understand and tackle the negative effects of ‘overtourism’, and instead proposes an ‘age-friendly tourism’.

It initiates a data-driven, participatory study with the aim to examine urban mobility transformations in European tourist cities and their effects on the social inclusion of older visitors and residents.

The project takes place in the framework of the Age-friendly City, which argues that a focus on the societal needs of older people improves the quality of cities for all.

Its interdisciplinary interface promises an innovative combination of qualitative and mobile methods, to capture the age-inclusiveness of urban tourist spaces.

It mobilises the knowledge, skills and networks of expert institutions in tourism, urban ageing and smart urban analytics to propose an original combination of resident and visitor perspectives, creating new knowledge about their negotiations of urban quality and conflict.