Fourth International Conference on Tourism and Leisure Studies

Abstract

This research focuses on community driven place-making and cultural heritage preservation in the context of rapid urbanization and growth. Ethnographic field research methods were applied to the case of Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico to understand the role of the “sacred” in local place-making efforts and in building and sustaining social capital. The research documented community perceptions of a freeway expansion project and the federal Pueblo Mágico [Magic Town] program intended to promote tourism while preserving culturally significant places. Tepoztlán’s social resistance to development projects (including a famous 1990 uprising that blocked a Golf Club project and recent unsuccessful attempts to block the freeway expansion) illustrate the contrast between indigenous local place-making and these federal urban development policies. Tepoztlán is a complex case study showing how preservation efforts can involve commodification and tourism cross-pressures; and, how ceremonial life including neighborhood exchanges of promesas, intergenerational convivencia, and a culture of mural creation not only contribute to a vibrant public realm, but also strengthen social ties that serve to unify and empower residents. The goal is to highlight lessons for tourism and leisure scholars and practitioners who seek to balance preservation and growth, and provide a deeper understanding how local residents value and find meaning in their surroundings in order to help create urban policies that meet residents’ diverse needs and desires, while highlighting the role of local efforts in creating culturally and environmentally sustainable urban environments.