Project description
Undocumented tourism jobs in southern European cities
Southern European cities are attracting more and more tourists, transforming urban spaces into mass tourism destinations. This makes it important to explore the impact of intensifying touristification of urban spaces. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TFB project aims to map and analyse emerging tourism jobs, such as travel vloggers, free tour guides and hosts. Ultimately, the project will introduce the concept of ‘touristification from below’ to show how workers shape tourism-driven urban change. It will also examine new urban identities in Naples, Barcelona and Lisbon, creating a comparative inventory of the informal tourism employment through interviews of approximately 20 workers.
Objective
"Southern European cities face intensifying touristification, i.e. the transformation of urban spaces driven by mass tourism. Yet we still lack a systematic analysis of how platform-mediated jobs emerging in the last decade in the tourism sector shape urban space and subjectivities from below. TFB addresses this gap by delivering the first mapping and in-depth analysis of these novel jobs (e.g. ""check-iners"", ""free tour"" guides, experiential hosts) and their impact on urban space. It pioneers the framework of ""touristification from below"", showing how workers not only endure but also actively shape tourism-led urban change from the ground up.
The project pursues four objectives: 1) mapping and categorising emerging forms of tourism labour, producing the first comparative inventory of these largely undocumented jobs; 2) analysing workers’ everyday practices; 3) exploring how these practices generate new urban subjectivities; and 4) theorising ""touristification from below"", bridging micro-level ethnography and macro-level urban governance. Methods include comparative ethnography with flexible shadowing of ≈20 workers, 60 walking/narrative interviews, deep mapping, and analysis with ATLAS.ti and ArcGIS across Naples, Barcelona and Lisbon.
Hosted by UB Department of Anthropology under Prof. Susana Narotzky (ERC Grassroots Economics), the project integrates urban geography with the anthropology of work. A secondment at IGOT–Lisbon (Prof. Brito Henriques, co-supervision Prof. Luís Mendes) broadens the comparative scope and embeds the project in leading tourism geography networks. Results will deliver open datasets, high-impact publications, GIS maps, multilingual policy briefs, and participatory workshops, informing fairer regulation of platform labour and tourism governance (EU Platform Work Directive, SDGs 1, 5, 8, 11). The fellowship consolidates my profile as a leading comparative urban ethnographer, enhancing competitiveness for PI roles and tenure-track positions."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences physical geography cartography geographic information systems
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08007 Barcelona
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.