Abstrakt
This chapter deals with the development of tourism in post-socialist Prague, and with the forms of citizen protest and resistance in reaction to socio-spatial changes related to the touristification of Prague's historic core. The chapter starts by introducing the changing political-economic context of Prague's historic core from the late 19th century to today.
Consequently, it details the causes and implications of the historic core's touristification and depopulation, principally in connection to the laissez-faire approach of post-socialist politicians. On the basis of data from interviews with citizens engaging in various activities, as well as interviews with representatives of relevant institutions, the chapter outlines the emergence of bottom-up social mobilizations surrounding urban issues in post-socialist Prague and examines the focus, modes of action, and claims of these mobilizations.
It provides an account of the spread of civic engagement and of the gradual opening of the municipal government to public input after 2010, as well as presenting a typology of different forms of citizen engagement and the main lines of division between them. The chapter concludes by showing that activists in Prague blame the city's problems on the city's mismanaged development, not on tourism, hoping that better governance would alleviate the situation.