ABSTRACT
New Urban Tourism refers to the desire and practice of tourists to experience everyday life in cities. In Berlin, this desire is met by going into Berlin’s Kieze, its residential neighbourhoods, some of which are particularly popular among tourists and Berliners alike. The chapter identifies a critical turning point at which New Urban Tourism becomes a problem. Once residents recognise tourists and perceive their neighbourhood spaces as shaped by tourism, tourism features as a catchall for urban problems: rising housing prices, party-induced nuisance and the displacement of residents and local shops are framed as caused by Kiez-tourism. The chapter understands this as residents becoming aware of being touristic objects and even selling points in the sell-out of their city. These dynamics give rise to moral questions about the right of Berliners to complain about or to profit from New Urban Tourism. As the media reports drawn on for the analysis evince, the debate is emotionally loaded. The chapter argues that this is an expression of fear in the face of limited influence over a rapidly changing urban development. This fear is confronted by a political decision-making tendency that prioritises tourism over residents’ needs by claiming the city’s dependence on income through tourism.
