Connecting urban communities with tourism through social capital : a community-based approach

Abstract

Given the phenomena of globalisation and modernisation in urban areas, an increasing number of urban communities have become new 'objects' of consumption, commodification, and commercialisation. Rapid and uncontrolled development frequently results in social and spatial fragmentation through gentrification process of urban communities. Whilst tourism has become one of the major urban development strategies, it focuses on revitalisation, infrastructure and physical facilities and sites. Conversely, tourism has created tremendous changes to the urban communities. This thesis inquired how the urban communities take part in community-based tourism (CBT) and collaborate with stakeholders in collective solutions. Whilst many scholars recommend CBT approach to sustainable tourism development, CBT application in urban communities may arouse scepticism due to a deeply rooted rural or anti-urban bias. Considering complexity, mobility, dynamism, capitalism and individualism as uniqueness of the urban context, how sustainable tourism and urban planning can be integrated and compromised was reflected by the study through urban CBT development. Mobilisation of urban dwellers to participate in CBT development requires social capital which means their relationships with groups, institutions and communities that facilitates their collective actions. Nevertheless, community participation is challenged by diversity of needs and interests, internal conflicts and hierarchies as well as external pressures and structures. In the developing regions, community members may be constrained by limited resources and capabilities, power structures, apathy about their communities and other duties for living. In addition, complex political and bureaucratic structures, abundance of opportunities and community associations in the urban areas may encourage different means to participation. Given the alienated social fabrics of the urban communities, a micro-level investigation on how the urban communities are organised to execute collective actions is necessary. Hence, this study explored the role of social capital in promoting cooperation and collaborations amongst urban residents and tourism stakeholders, and proposed an optimal model to facilitate community participation in urban CBT. The research considered social constructionism as a paradigm and adopted a qualitative inquiry. Ethnographic fieldworks were conducted along with in-depth interviews and participant observations. As one of the most urbanised Asian mega-cities and global tourism hubs, Bangkok Metropolis was selected as the context of this study. The study was represented by three urban communities in Bangkok's old-town districts, including Nang Loeng, Talad Noi and Banglamphu, thanks to their active role in CBT advocacy and historical coexistence along with the evolution of extensive urbanisation. With a maximum variation approach, a purposive sampling method was used to identify diverse views of different groups involved in urban CBT, 45 people in total, including 6 CBT leaders, 15 CBT participants, 15 CBT non-participants and 9 external agents. Four CBT working groups, namely E-Loeng, Nang Loeng Research Committee, Khon Rak Talad Noi and Chomrom Kesorn Lamphu, were found. These groups were established through either formalised or informal mode. With the presence of CBT working groups, urban dwellers were able to deploy and develop social capital amongst each other and with external agents. Their social capital was also influenced by metropolitan circumstances forced by political structure, economic development, sociodemographic changes and urban development. Through the urban CBT platform, urban residents demonstrated various forms (i.e., research, development and community tours) and degrees of participation (i.e., active, passive and non-participation) in urban CBT. Meanwhile, external agents adopted different ways (i.e., authoritarian, consultative, network facilitative and patrocinative) to involve the community members in urban CBT initiatives. Although these social connections contributed to effective community participation in urban CBT, this study also presented several drawbacks. Based on the analysis of the study, social capital and community participation are counterparts for operationalising the process of urban CBT development. Additionally, their interdependence determines how effective the urban communities are gathered to perform collective actions. The study also captured how different types of social capital contribute to the development outcomes and their interactive consequences. As argued that social capital can extensively harm the community when mismanaged or abused, the study suggested monitoring the sentiments of other community residents, namely passive participants and non-participants. In other words, heterogenous voices and interests of community groups, especially non-tourism related residents, should be included. Although a bottom-up approach is a cornerstone of sustainable tourism development, the study recommends both top-down and bottom-up approaches as a coherent development programme that welds both in mutually reinforcing ways. Accordingly, the study proposed the urban CBT model to illustrate the interactive roles of social capital and community participation (i.e., cohesion, collaboration and control) in urban CBT towards inclusive and collective goals. Eventually, the study provided theoretical, methodological, practical and social contributions to the subject matters. Theoretically, this empirical research contributed new insights from the non-Western urban perspectives to the body of knowledge of CBT and social capital. Moreover, the study improved the current CBT models in the existing literature by articulating how the social roles contribute in facilitating collective and inclusive participation in the urban CBT development. Given that the participatory process was proven non-linear, periodical and dynamic, the developed urban CBT model is the output of this study that contributed to the body of CBT knowledge. Methodologically, the study suggested nuanced approach to ethnographic and pragmatic research by taking pararelled realities, multi-lateral values and instrinsic characteristics into account and neutralising all research procedures. Practically, the study offered recommendations to policymakers, the private sector and urban communities to pursue a community-centric approach to urban tourism development. Socially, this study reflected the ground realities of the grassroots communities in the cities. Given their heterogeneity, the study also urged supports to empower marginalised groups of people who lack opportunities and rights in the participatory process. Finally, limitations and directions for future research were discussed.