The debate will be in English.

Venice has become one of the most visited cities in the world, despite its famous subsidence problem. Yet while the city is not quite ready to sink into the lagoon in which it was built, there is growing apprehension that the city is drowning in tourists. As growing numbers from around the world have flocked into Venice, the number of residents in the historic city centre has fallen by almost two thirds over the last sixty years. In 2009, Newsweek predicted, ‘by 2030, there won’t be a single full-time Venetian resident left’. One Unesco director has complained that it has become ‘a museum city, no longer a residential one.’ Consequently, in June 2011, Venice Mayor Giorgio Orsoni approved a tax on tourists staying in the city and nearby.

For some, Venetians should stop grumbling and embrace this change. British economist John Kay suggests Mickey Mouse could be the city’s saviour, arguing Venice has always been an artificial, man-made environment rather than a ‘natural’ beauty, so it can happily transform itself into a Disney-like ‘Magic Kingdom’ dependent on tourist money without losing its authenticity. Others suggest the problem for locals is not tourism per se but the wrong kind of tourist: too many package holidays and cruise liners, rather than art fanatics and educational trips. Either way, it is argued, with the local (and controversial) petro-chemical industries closing down, leaving a city lacking many of the mod cons of contemporary urban living, Venice cannot survive unless it is able to adapt to a changing world.

Is Venice really dying from tourism? To what extent are these problems related to the clash between ancient heritage and the need for modern infrastructure? Should tourists be encouraged to adopt a sustainable etiquette, through pricing mechanisms, surveillance and diffusion of tourist flows? Would Venice benefit from transforming itself into an urban theme park, or would it lose its historic allure for more discerning visitors? Should more action be taken to ensure the ‘right’ kind of tourist comes to visit, or does the drowning city need every buoyant dollar or Yuan it can get?

This event will be attended by Alan Miller, as a guest representative of the Battle of Ideas Organising Committee