Mountains of Spectacle: Questioning the sustainability of tourism

I was happy to contribute to this episode of Urbinary exploring mountain territories as places of production, leisure, and spectacle. Considering practices of mass tourism and mega events as major drivers of spatial transformation, the episode critically explores their sustainability—not only environmentally, but also spatially, socially, and economically.

«Drawing insights from the work of Martin Müller and Sarah Gainsforth, the episode addresses the material and immaterial effects of such leisure practices in mountain territories through a threefold perspective: firstly, in spatial and tangible terms; secondly, in terms of governance; and thirdly, in terms of the intangible human experience. By reflecting on the above, the episode seeks to highlight the fact that mountains are increasingly undergoing processes of urbanisation, especially in the context of tourism and mega events. Ultimately, it constitutes a call for defending, protecting, and preserving our mountain landscapes».  

Urbinary is a dissemination platform – centred around the creation and structuring of a podcast – developed by a diverse team of students, alumni, PhD Candidates and early career researchers from the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies and the Design Department at the Politecnico di Milano.

Hey, ciao 👋 Piacere di conoscerti.

Iscriviti per ricevere aggiornamenti sulle mie pubblicazioni e gli eventi a cui partecipo.

Non invio spam! Leggi l'informativa sulla privacy per avere maggiori informazioni.

Sarah Gainsforth

Sarah Gainsforth is an independent researcher, a non-fiction writer and freelance journalist. Her work focuses on housing, tourism, gentrification and all things urban. She writes articles mainly for the Italian media Il Manifesto and Internazionale. Her last book is «Homeless Italy, housing policies to survive rent extraction», Laterza, 2025.