Touristification, Depopulation and Urban Change in a Historic City: Evidence from Córdoba, Spain

The Historic Centre of Córdoba (Spain), designated a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) and partially recognised as a ‘World Heritage Site’ by UNESCO, is one of the largest in Europe and, in recent decades, has undergone profound functional, economic and social transformations, which have been accelerated by growing tourist activity. These processes have not yet been analysed systematically, despite the fact that the study of urban processes such as touristification and their implications for certain urban dynamics of gentrification is a highly topical issue. This study aims to determine the extent to which the Historic Centre of Córdoba is undergoing a significant process of touristification and its impact on depopulation, gentrification and other functional and land-use transformations. To this end, a series of demographic, socio-economic, tourism-related and property market indicators have been collected and analysed. The results indicate a recent, intense process of touristification that has exacerbated the critical situation of depopulation and residential abandonment, although no significant process of socio-demographic gentrification has been detected. It is concluded that tourism is neither the sole nor even the main cause of this trend of demographic decline and functional and urban changes; rather, there are multiple historical, socio-economic, urban planning and demographic factors that explain them. This study lays the groundwork for a broader investigation of this urban area, which is of such great significance to the city in terms of heritage, history and identity.