Handout | The Anthropocene Waterscapes of Venice
Chapter | Venice and the Extractivist Regime of Mass Tourism

Venice and the Extractivist Regime of Mass Tourism

Abstract

This short text explores the phenomenon of overtourism and its impacts on cities like Venice, drawing from political geography, critical development studies, urban studies, and the environmental humanities. It examines how the expansion of extractivist dynamics – traditionally focused on natural resources – now extends to social, economic, cultural and ecological domains, providing a unique perspective for understanding key dimensions of the Anthropocene. The social conflicts resulting from the aggressive neoliberal marketization of urban spaces, as exemplified by Venice, expose the extractive logics justifying mass tourism: the commodification of the commons and of cultural heritage embodies a form of symbolic extraction that parallels the material extraction of resources, reshaping the social, economic, and ecological landscapes of cities. This extractivist logic, intensified by neoliberal forces and promoted by several political actors, transforms urban life, aesthetics, and ecology at once.


Open access

Published June 10, 2025 | Language: en


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