Tourism

Tourism is a key driver of urban economies and a strategic lever for advancing nature-positive, low-carbon, and circular urban development. It influences how cities manage natural assets, infrastructure, and resource flows, creating opportunities to align visitor economies with sustainability goals. When embedded in integrated urban planning, sustainable tourism can support the conservation of biodiversity, promote low-carbon mobility and infrastructure, and encourage circular practices in sectors such as hospitality, food systems, and waste management. By prioritizing responsible and regenerative tourism models, cities can attract investment, strengthen local livelihoods, and enhance resilience, ensuring that tourism contributes to long-term environmental sustainability, economic diversification, and inclusive urban development.

 

Explore more resources in the GPSC Knowledge Products, featuring case studies, toolkits, and technical guidance from cities around the world. Use the filters and categories to navigate by theme or topic and find content tailored to your city’s priorities.

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Samarkand, Uzbekistan

GPSC City Academy on Green Urban Infrastructure and Nature-Cultural Tourism

25 June 2026, 9:00 UZT

City representatives, experts, and partners will meet in Samarkand to exchange insights on planning, financing, and implementing green urban infrastructure.
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Tourism

Kyoto A Creative City : Leveraging Creativity for City Competitiveness and Inclusive Urban Transformation

This report builds on the findings from the Technical Deep Dive (TDD) ‘Creative Cities: Case of Kyoto,’ organized by the Tokyo Development and Learning Center (TDLC) in partnership with UNESCO and the
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Tourism

Guatemala Study on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage: The Case of Antigua Guatemala

Natural events are recurrent. Geophysical hazards such as earthquakes or volcano eruptions cannot be predicted, but it is known that where they have happened in the past, they will happen again. In
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Tourism

Culture in City Reconstruction and Recovery

As urban growth and development continue at a breathtaking pace across the world, cities are increasingly bearing the brunt of conflicts, crises and disasters, which themselves are growing in number
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