Tourist and Recreational Legacies of World's Fairs
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Tourist and Recreational Legacies of World’s Fairs Jose Alfredo Torres, PhD University of Connecticut, 2015 This study examines the level of success of World’s Fairs venues and structures that were designed to serve post-event tourism and recreational roles during the last half century in cities in countries in North America, Europe and Oceania in which English, Spanish, and Portuguese are official languages. Current literature discusses the topic of special events and mega-events, such as the Olympics and World’s Fairs, as tools to revitalize or reinvent cities, to attract tourism, to improve the profile of a city, and to encourage economic development by encouraging the leisure and entertainment sectors of the economy. A more limited discussion that is dedicated to the legacy of venues and individual structures that are designed for the special events exists. This study focuses on the present-day uses of World’s Fairs venues and structures and how those uses are linked to the tourism industry. This study aims to determine the legacy of World’s Fairs venues and structures by doing a qualitative analysis of four different types of information sources: a survey of tourism websites of all cities that have hosted these events, a survey of traveler opinion websites for those cities, an analysis of maps and satellite images in those cities, as well as a survey of publications which discuss the legacy of World’s Fairs, their venues and their structures. This research will provide two important contributions. Empirically, it will add to the body of knowledge about mega-event venues and structures that are expected to serve a functional purpose beyond the mega-event itself. Second, and more theoretically, it will contribute to the study of mega-events as special events that may become effective symbols of urban landscape renovation and tourism and recreational appeal. i Tourist and Recreational Legacies of World’s Fairs Jose Alfredo Torres B.A. DePauw University, 1987 M.A. University of Florida, 2002 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut 2015 ii Copyright by Jose Alfredo Torres 2015 iii APPROVAL PAGE Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Tourist and Recreational Legacies of World’s Fairs Presented by Jose Alfredo Torres, B.A., M.A. Major Advisor _________________________________________________________________ Nathaniel Trumbull Associate Advisor ______________________________________________________________ William Berentsen Associate Advisor ______________________________________________________________ Kenneth Foote University of Connecticut 2015 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my major advisor, Nathaniel Trumbull, and my associate advisors, William Berentsen and Kenneth Foote, for your advice, mentorship, friendship, dedication, and hard work. I would also like to thank Adam Keul and Scott Stephenson for going way above and beyond what is expected of you and helping me succeed whenever you have had a chance to do so. I also need to acknowledge Timothy Fik and Barbara McDade-Gordon (University of Florida) and Clifford Haury and Kit Decker (Piedmont Virginia Community College) for serving as referees when I applied for admission to the Geography program. I would also like to thank the Multicultural Scholars Program, the Graduate School, and the Department of Geography for their generous funding of my doctoral studies. To Evelyn Matos. v Table of Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction to the Study ..................................................................................... 1 1.1. Overview.............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Background of the Study and Literature Review; Mega-Events, Mega-Event Structures, and Tourism ...................................................................................................................................... 3 1.3. The Tourism Industry Worldwide ....................................................................................... 10 1.4. Statement of the Problem.................................................................................................... 11 1.5. Research Question and Hypothesis ..................................................................................... 12 1.6. Methods and Procedures ..................................................................................................... 12 1.7. Limitations and Significance .............................................................................................. 14 Chapter 2 – The Tourism Legacy of post-World War II World’s Fairs in North America and the Iberian Peninsula: Mega-event Venues .................................................................... 15 2.1. Municipal Tourism Websites .............................................................................................. 16 2.2. Opinions of Writers from Fodor’s, Frommer’s, and Lonely Planet ..................................... 22 2.3. Readers’ Ratings from Trip Advisor ................................................................................... 26 2.4. Presence of Hotels within or Adjacent to the Perimeter of the Venues ............................... 28 2.5. City-by-city Observations ................................................................................................... 30 2.6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 48 Chapter 3 – The Tourism Legacy of post-World War II World’s Fairs in the Iberian Peninsula: Mega-event Structures as Tourist Attractions .................................................... 50 3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 50 3.2. Results from Municipal Tourism Websites, Travel Advice Websites, and Trip Advisor ..... 51 3.3. Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 59 3.4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 61 Chapter 4 – New Urbanism, Tourism, and Urban Regeneration in Eastern Lisbon, Portugal .................................................................................................................................. 66 4.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 66 4.2. Theory and Definition of New Urbanism ............................................................................ 67 4.3. Pre- and Post-Expo ‘98 ....................................................................................................... 70 4.4. Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 75 4.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 5 – Conclusion to the Study ...................................................................................... 89 References Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................. 100 References Chapter 2 .............................................................................................................. 102 References Chapter 3 .............................................................................................................. 106 References Chapter 4 .............................................................................................................. 107 vi References Chapter 5 .............................................................................................................. 110 Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................. 112 Appendix 2 ............................................................................................................................. 114 Appendix 3 ............................................................................................................................. 116 Appendix 4 ............................................................................................................................. 117 1 CHAPTER 1 – Introduction to the Study 1.1 Overview In 1998 the World’s Fair, Expo '98, took place in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. The site for the Expo was created by clearing a brownfield in the northeastern part of the city along the Tejo (Tagus) River that used to be occupied by abandoned warehouses and industrial facilities, as well low-cost rental housing, and it was designed to become a public park, renamed Park of Nations, once the World’s Fair ended. Within the park, structures were built with two purposes in mind: to showcase the Expo during the event and to become permanent tourist attractions once the event ended. The Park of Nations is only one example of what changes can take place in a city once a mega-event ends. There is existing literature on mega-events that will be discussed in the section below. The discussion includes a set of expectations that indicate that mega-events often bring about specific desired benefits that are economic or that include