Valparaíso and the Post-Unesco Urban Cycle 2003-2022: Touristification, Heritage, and the Configuration of an Elitized Urban Space

Abstract

The main Latin American heritage cities show real estate tourism renovation operations in historic areas that are currently analyzed through studies on gentrification and touristification. Valparaíso (Chile) is an example to observe; following the declaration of its historic area as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a tourism-real estate renewal process began in heritage areas inside and outside the UNESCO polygon. Using spatial analysis, the location of tourist trade, location of housing under Airbnb rent, housing prices, depopulation and sociodemographic changes are examined. The results show a touristification process that selectively revitalizes the World Heritage Site while also creating an area of tourist expansion in the hills adjacent to the UNESCO site. A process is observed that, property by property, renews the lower part of the hills, configuring an elitist leisure and residence space which excludes the local inhabitant and pressures the resident to relocate.