A Year in the Spotlight: Europe's Cultural Capitals Landscape
Each year, one European city -occasionally more- earns the right to call itself a capital: not of a country, but of culture itself. For twelve months, a title, a budget, and a spotlight land on a place, before moving on to the next one, leaving behind lasting impacts on local and regional cultural sectors. This map traces that pattern, starting with the very first title awarded in 1985 (Athens).
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Overtourism vs. undertourism: concepts, impacts and management strategies for contemporary tourism
This article analyzes the dual phenomena of overtourism and undertourism, examining their causes, socio-economic impacts, and the complex challenges they present for contemporary tourism management. By contrasting these dynamics and exploring strategic approaches to sustainable governance, it situates the debate within broader discussions about mobility, cultural heritage, and urban resilience. The piece highlights key concepts, case examples, and future directions in the study of tourism flows.
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Dubai future visions: urban imaginaries, architecture and cultural narratives
This article explores how Dubai has constructed its future-oriented urban imaginary through architecture, mega-events and cultural narratives, positioning itself as a laboratory for global visions of modernity.
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Accessible cultural heritage: freedom to move, freedom to read the territory
Cultural heritage, when made accessible and participatory, can constitute a powerful tool for countering spatial inequalities and injustices. As emphasised by the Faro Convention (Council of Europe, 2005), heritage is not a neutral object to be preserved, but a right to be actively exercised, capable of generating social cohesion and catalysing democratic processes.
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Cultural Observatories Worldwide: A Map for Reading Culture
The publication “Cultural Observatories Worldwide: A Map for Reading Culture” (Thematic Focus no. 2 - 2026) presents an international survey of cultural observatories, with the aim of providing an overview of these institutions and their main characteristics.
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New Perspectives for Cultural Observatories: Towards Dialogue Platforms, Community Participation and Co-Creation
Cultural Observatories emerged in the late 1980s, gaining prominence over the last two decades. Initially inspired by Grenoble's Observatoire des politiques culturelles (1989) and Strasbourg's Observatoire européen de l'audiovisuel (1992), these observatories now number more than 100 across four continents, with a significant concentration in Europe. They vary in scope and focus, reflecting the diversity of cultural landscapes.
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Statistics and Culture: An Improbable Pairing?
At a quick and superficial reading, statistics and culture may seem like two separate realities that only interact under close supervision. To simplify, the cultured individual tends to stigmatize the false certainties hidden behind numbers, while the statistician perhaps looks with barely concealed annoyance at that galaxy of activities that escape easily definable metrics.
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Globetrotters: a new way of travelling
From the late 19th century onwards, a new form of travel emerged, practised by globetrotters. These travellers enjoyed a golden age in the early decades of the 20th century: they embarked on improbable expeditions with makeshift means and often financed their journeys through the sale of illustrated postcards.
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Ecosystem alterations and human impacts: foundational concepts and critical perspectives
This article presents basic concepts and critical perspectives on ecosystem alterations, focusing on how human activities have transformed biotic and abiotic system components. It synthesizes ecological theory with reflections on perception and communication, situating scientific evidence within broader debates about environmental change and media representation. Key elements include definitions of ecosystems, structural properties, scales of alteration, and the role of human impacts in shaping contemporary dynamics.
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