Whose place in the sun? Whose place in the sun? Residential tourism and its implications for equitable and sustainable development in Guanacaste, Costa Rica Wiens plek onder de zon? Residentieel toerisme en de gevolgen voor rechtvaardige en duurzame ontwikkeling in Guanacaste, Costa Rica (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) ¿Un lugar en el sol para quién? El turismo residencial y sus consecuencias para el desarrollo equitativo y sostenible en Guanacaste, Costa Rica (con una síntesis en español) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. G.J. van der Zwaan, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 14 december 2012 des middags te 12.45 uur door Helena Jenneke van Noorloos geboren op 8 februari 1983 te Raamsdonk Promotor: Prof. dr. E.B. Zoomers Co-promotor: Dr. A.C.M. van Westen Dit proefschrift werd mede mogelijk gemaakt met financiële steun van LANDac (de IS-Academie Land Governance for Equitable and Sustainable Development) en van het CEDLA ( Centrum voor Studie en Documentatie van Latijns-Amerika). ISBN 978 90 5972 706 9 Uitgeverij Eburon Postbus 2867 2601 CW Delft tel.: 015-2131484 / fax: 015-2146888 [email protected] / www.eburon.nl Cover design and pictures: Femke van Noorloos and Eduardo Godinez Cartography and design figures: Ton Markus, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University © 2012 Femke van Noorloos. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing from the proprietor. © 2012 Femke van Noorloos. Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd, opgeslagen in een geautomatiseerd gegevensbestand, of openbaar gemaakt, in enige vorm of op enige wijze, hetzij elektronisch, mechanisch, door fotokopieën, opnamen, of op enig andere manier, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de rechthebbende. Table of Contents List of figures 9 List of tables 10 List of text-boxes 10 Abbreviations 11 Acknowledgements 13 1. Introduction 15 1.1 The global land rush 18 1.2 Globalisation and translocal development 23 1.3 Residential tourism and lifestyle mobilities 26 1.4 Study approach and methods 30 Research questions 30 Research area 31 Methodology: triangulation and inductive approach 32 Use of secondary data sources 34 Sampling methods and techniques 35 Participant observation 36 Data analysis 36 Reflection on research methods and experiences 37 1.5 Structure of the book 38 2. Tracing the threads of recent residential tourism development in Guanacaste 41 2.1 Tourist attractions and migrant pull factors 42 Climate 43 Landscape 44 Biodiversity and nature 45 Image of peace, democracy and development 47 Culture and lifestyle 47 Accessibility and services 49 Cost of living 51 2.2 History of Guanacaste 52 From flourishing region to marginalised area (pre-1880) 52 The land grab, livestock boom and rise of tourism (1880-1980) 54 Land, agricultural production and migration 54 Initial tourism development 55 Livestock crisis and tourism standstill, but on-going land speculation (1980s) 56 Transition to a service economy (1990s) 58 Large-scale tourism and real estate boom (2000s) 60 2.3 Guanacaste’s residential tourism boom: the role of policy and external factors 64 Attracting residential tourism: government facilitation and private sector primacy 64 Infrastructure 64 Government support for specific large projects 65 Other law proposals 66 Contradictory discourses and practice 67 5 Deregulatory policy environment 67 Coastal zone regulation and landuse planning 68 Environmental regulation 70 Weak and centralised institutions 71 Other examples of deregulation 73 2.4 Trans-local factors explaining residential tourism 73 Conclusion 76 3. Guanacaste coast: a concrete jungle? The physical and human landscape of residential tourism 79 3.1 Residential tourism growth in the research area: the figures 80 Construction data 80 Residential projects 81 Origin of investment capital 83 Residential tourists: estimates 84 3.2 Gated communities, condominiums and land plots: what residential tourism looks like 86 All-inclusive luxury gated community (including golf courses and hotels) 87 Mixed project: gated community combining plots and residences 90 Villa complexes (horizontal condominiums) 91 Apartment complexes (vertical condominiums) 93 Land plot subdivisions 95 3.3 Population of the residential tourism projects 96 Characteristics of different types of residential tourists 98 ‘Evolution’ of residential tourists 100 3.4 Discussion 101 Residential tourism in Guanacaste in an evolutionary model: past, present and future 101 Effects on local destinations 103 Economic effects 103 Environmental sustainability and liveability 104 Social cohesion vs. segregation 106 Conclusion 107 4. Multiple mobilities: local citizenship and community fragmentation 109 4.1 Theoretical framework 109 4.2 Multiple mobilities: numbers and characteristics 113 4.3 Multiple mobilities and their logic 115 Nicaraguan migration to Guanacaste 115 Domestic migration: GAM – Guanacaste 116 Motivations for moving: western migrants 117 Comparison: history and motivations of migration 119 4.4 Migration policies and practice 120 Western migrants 120 Nicaraguan migrants 122 Comparison: political opportunity structures 124 4.5 Dimensions of local participation and citizenship: involvement in the economy, education and health 125 Western migrants 125 Nicaraguan migrants 127 6 Comparison: involvement in economy, education and health 128 4.6 Dimensions of local participation and citizenship: involvement in local society – language, media, contacts 129 Western migrants 129 Nicaraguan migrants 131 Comparison: involvement in local society 131 4.7 Dimensions of local participation and citizenship: socio-political involvement 132 Western migrants 133 Nicaraguan migrants 137 Comparison: socio-political involvement 137 4.8 Transnational involvement 140 Western migrants 140 Nicaraguan migrants 142 Comparison: transnationalism as a barrier to local involvement? 142 Conclusions 146 Explaining local involvement 146 Emergence of a cohesive local society or dissolving the local? 148 5. Residential tourism and economic change 151 5.1 Theoretical framework 152 5.2 Structural economic change: towards large-scale and residential tourism growth 155 The development phase of residential tourism: increased flows to different areas 157 5.3 From short-term to residential tourism: changing expenditure patterns 160 5.4 Changing labour market and business opportunities 165 5.5 Vulnerability to shocks 172 5.6 Land price inflation 176 Conclusion 177 6. Residential tourism and spatial change: fragmented processes of displacement and exclusion 181 6.1 Fragmented space under neoliberal globalisation 181 6.2 Fragmentation of space, land markets and land use 183 Land market and land use 186 6.3 Fragmented processes of displacement, exclusion and gentrification 189 Displacement and gentrification in Guanacaste 190 Coastal land privatisation and conflicts 193 6.4 Governance and community resistance further enhancing fragmentation 196 Conclusion 197 7. Green residential tourism? The conservation vs. development dilemma in Costa Rica 201 7.1 Theoretical framework 202 7.2 State policies 203 7.3 Environmental effects of residential and large-scale tourism in Guanacaste 205 7.4 The case of Playa Grande and Leatherbacks of Guanacaste National Park 208 Conservation of sea turtles in Playa Grande area: changing threats and strategies 209 Current conflict and different views 211 7.5 Residential tourists’ views on conservation vs. development 213 7 Final considerations: devilish dilemmas 216 8. Community participation in planning and environmental decision-making 219 8.1 Theoretical framework 220 8.2 Public participation in tourism and landuse planning 222 8.3 Community involvement in water governance 225 Community involvement in water issues: protest and judicial action 230 8.4 Community participation in conservation: Playa Grande 233 8.5 Community fragmentation 235 Diverse views on local place and residential tourism 235 Organisations and participation by different groups 237 Conclusion 239 9. Wrapping up: equitable and sustainable development? 243 9.1 Sustainable development’s paradoxes and interrelations 244 9.2 Temporal and dynamic perspectives 246 9.3 Globalisation, fragmentation and trans-local development 248 9.4 The global land rush 252 References 255 Appendices 271 1.1. List of respondents in-depth interviews 271 1.2. Survey residential tourists and short-term tourists (2011) 272 2.1. Basic data: Costa Rica and Guanacaste 277 2.2. International Living Retirement Index 2012 278 2.3. Human development index and indicators: comparing Costa Rica, Latin America/Caribbean and the world 279 2.4. International Flights per week arriving at Liberia Airport 280 3.1 Basic characteristics of survey respondents 281 3.2 Survey respondents’ locations: types of projects 282 3.3 Reasons for residential tourists’ choice for a particular town or region 282 4.1 General population characteristics of research area 283 5.1 Residential tourists and short-term tourists’ expenditures: additional data 284 8.1 Future improvement: more responsive municipalities? 285 Samenvatting 287 Síntesis 295 Summary 305 Curriculum Vitae 313 8 List of figures 1.1: Administrative division research area (cantones):