Economic, cultural and social factors influencing the development of gay businesses and places: Evidence from the European Union
Abstract
The late 20th century emergence of gay neighbourhoods and their related businesses has been examined by a number of researchers, but few have tackled this issue on a larger scale compared to case studies in a national context. This study considers the development of European gay businesses and gay non-residential places, using principal components analysis on data from the Spartacus International Gay Guide of 2007.
This is an unusual quantitative approach in the largely qualitatively-dominated field of geographies of sexualities. It has identified gay commodification and gay (in)visibilities as the most likely factors of spatial diversity in observed gay places.
These two identified dimensions are then analysed in terms of their linkages, specificities and regional importance. Subsequently, the interactions between economic, cultural and social factors at stake in the development of gay business and non-residential places across Europe, are evaluated.