Case study of strategies for the conversion of Intermediate Cities from a tourist product to an Urban and Cultural Attractor

Abstract

The urban interventions carried out in Intermediate Cities (Vargas, 2018) aimed at recovering the historical heritage and obtaining international recognition such as the Unesco World Heritage (EFE, 2020) or Cittaslow (2018) for its exploitation as places with tourist potential for its subsequent use as a driver of unstructured local economies can lead to the creation of "brand strategies as a differentiating element where marketing and profitability weigh more than the principles of conservation, protection, study, dissemination and development of heritage wealth both artistic and architectural” (De Souza, 2021, p. 735). Thus, there are "behaviors on the part of public administrations as modifiers of the functions of the urban space under the criteria of the market, developing gentrification processes" (Moros, 2017, p. 113) of the urban centers of tourist destinations.