From the Anthropocene to the Symbiocene: Repercussions on Tourist Cities

Abstract

Abstract:Current understandings of the tourist city reveal a pressing problem: touristification (or mass tourism) is generating significant friction between residents and visitors. This phenomenon disrupts the daily lives of both groups, leading to considerable environmental impact. Unfortunately, the primary focus in many tourist destinations remains narrow: economic development, often at the expense of social and environmental well-being. The prevalence and imposition of an anthropocene tourist city perspective has led to tourism activities damaging the natural ecosystems on which some cities are founded. Therefore, the degradation of biological systems demands a containment of human activity. This paper aims to question and reflect on the construction of a symbiocenic tourist city that lays the groundwork for a new tourism approach based on the cohabitation of species to streamline economic, educational, touristic, social, cultural, and, above all, environmental development, reproducing native and resilient settings as a model of ecological urbanism that shapes the post-human tourist city. It is concluded that tourist centers must maintain a multi-species hierarchical balance to regulate symbiosis in natural environments, exploring forms of urban planning to reconstruct scenarios marked by the urban footprint.

Keywords:Tourist city, Anthropocene, Symbiocene, Ecological urbanism