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Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Retail Structure in Barcelona: From Tourism-Phobia to the Desertification of City Center

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  • Lluís Frago

    (Department of Geography, University of Barcelona, 08001 Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

COVID-19 has meant major transformations for commercial fabric. These transformations have been motivated by the collapse of consumer mobility at multiple scales. We analyzed the impact of the collapse of global tourist flows on the commercial fabric of Barcelona city center, a city that has been a global reference in over-tourism and tourism-phobia. Fieldwork in the main commercial areas before and after the pandemic and complementary semi-structured interviews with the main agents involved highlight the relationship between global tourist flows and commercial fabric. The paper shows how the end of global tourism has meant an important commercial desertification. The end of the integration of the city center into global consumer flows has implications for urban theory. It means a downscaling of the city center and the questioning of traditional center-periphery dynamics. It has been shown that the tourist specialization of commerce has important effects on the real estate market and makes it particularly vulnerable. However, the touristic specialization of commercial activities as a strategy of resilience has also been presented. This adaptation faces the generalized commercial desertification that drives the growing concentration of consumption around the online channel.

Suggested Citation

  • Lluís Frago, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Retail Structure in Barcelona: From Tourism-Phobia to the Desertification of City Center," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-17, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8215-:d:599556
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Salvatore Ammirato & Alberto Michele Felicetti & Marco Della Gala, 2015. "Rethinking tourism destinations: collaborative network models for the tourist 2.0," International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(3), pages 178-201.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rodrigo Hidalgo & María Sarella Robles & Voltaire Alvarado, 2022. "Neoliberal Lakeside Residentialism: Real Estate Development and the Sustainable Utopia in Environmentally Fragile Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, August.
    2. Merten, Laura & Kuhnimhof, Tobias, 2023. "Impacts of parking and accessibility on retail-oriented city centres," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Joanna Zuzanna Popławska, 2021. "The Resilience of Urban Retail System in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Case Study of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Carles Carreras & Lluís Frago, 2022. "Could a Retail-Less City Be Sustainable? The Digitalization of the Urban Economy against the City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, April.

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