ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Amsterdam by examining one aspect of cultural globalization, specifically considering the extent to which mass tourism has reconstituted local culture as it shapes the city’s image. The rapid pace of the globalization of ideas, values and lifestyles rests on the relative ease of their distribution through information technologies and the increased flow of people, particularly migrants and tourists. Amsterdam provides a useful case study of the effects of cultural globalization on urban identities, in view of its centuries-long history as a city, and its reputation as a very international or global place. The aspect of Amsterdam’s urban culture and identity that receives the most attention is ‘tolerance’. This is the case in the popular media, but also in the writings of urban scholars. One of the effects of cultural globalization for Amsterdam has been the commodification of its identity as a tolerant place. Globalization does not erase local cultures, but it does undermine their original form.
