Visual Representation of Touristic Structures and Urban Perception: Measuring the Disjunctions Between Photography, Architecture, and City

The research scope comprises the analysis of disjunctions between photographic representations, architectural landmarks, tourist icons, and urbanized surroundings. Given the problem posed by imagery distortions in human cognition, the guiding hypothesis is that the perception of scenes of constructed touristic attractions is distorted with respect to their associated built vicinities. Therefore, the general objective is to systematize guidelines for integrating public policies on visual communication and urban management. Using multi-method, applied, qualitative–quantitative, and exploratory approaches, an investigation is conducted in four main parts: a literature review highlighting knowledge gaps on the topic; procedural methods involving the selection of study areas (cities) and objects (architectures) from those most visited worldwide in the pre-pandemic period followed by submitting their representative photographs for interpretation by experts and the public; analysis involving interpreting respondents’ feedback in association with specific criteria; and an integrated discussion leading to the formulation of directives. As a synthesis of the answers to the research question, the results diagnose a misrepresentation of the immediate and nearby surroundings of architectural sites due to the exclusive observation of images published on official tourism websites, confirming the proposed hypothesis and concluding that the methodological essay is feasible, with case-specific adaptations, as a reference for adequately conveying touristic landscapes in contemporary cities.