The power of knowledge: tourism and the production of heritage in Porto's old city

Abstract

The paper analyses the relationship between the material world of heritage of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the immaterial realm there located (the social worlds inhabiting the referred-to place) in a particular city: Porto, Portugal. It will do so by presenting a study carried out on pedestrian guided tours of Porto's Old City. The argument put forward is that these guided tours, which are run by professional historians and attended by Portuguese nationals (almost never by foreign nationals), constitute an important arena where the sense of belongingness to Porto is constructed and negotiated. It is argued that this is done via both the accessing and sharing of specialized knowledge (provided by historians) on the Old City's past and future (urban renewal projects), and the actual act of participating in the tours.