Paradoxes of Tourism in the Marginal Neighborhood of Scampia

The tourism phenomenon in Scampia, a peripheral neighborhood in Naples, embodies many of the paradoxes inherent in modern tourism. Built in the 1960s as a public housing project, Scampia has long been portrayed as a dangerous "no-go zone," particularly due to its infamous "Vele," mega-buildings inspired by the utopian ideals of Le Corbusier that have become symbols of crime and neglect. Yet, despite - and because of - the area's deeply entrenched negative image, Scampia has emerged as a new tourist destination, attracting both domestic and international visitors intrigued by its gritty reputation. Guided tours organized by local and non-local, official and unofficial guides emphasize another paradox: they claim to promote destigmatization while capitalizing on the very territorial stigma (Wacquant, 2007) they aim to dismantle, which is, in fact, the primary driver of tourism. This trend reflects a broader pattern of tourism in marginalized spaces, where visitors are drawn to these areas both despite and because of their neglect or negative image. Ethnographic insights from tourism fieldwork in Scampia will illuminate how tourism in the stigmatized peripheries of the Global North shares characteristics with ruin tourism (Le Gallou, 2018) and slum tourism (Frenzel et al., 2012) in the Global South. By embracing the contradictions of this emerging trend, this paper contributes to a more nuanced understanding of tourism’s impact on marginalized urban areas and the complex role it plays in alleviating and simultaneously reinforcing territorial stigma.

References

Frenzel F., Koens K., Stenbrink, M. (ed.) (2012). Slum Tourism. Poverty, Power and Ethics, London, Routledge.

Le Gallou A. (2018). From urban exploration to ruin tourism: a geographical analysis of contemporary ruins as new frontiers for urban tourism. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 4 (2), 245-260.

Wacquant L. (2007) Territorial Stigmatization in The Age of Advanced Marginality. Thesis Eleven, 91, 66-77.