Fragile cities: how Venice and Barcelona communicate their need for sustainability

Abstract

The aim of the research is to compare the messages posted on the official Twitter and Facebook accounts of Barcelona and Venice by means of a quantitative text analysis. Both cities face problems related to sustainability in tourism, therefore the aim is to compare the strategies that Barcelona and Venice use in order to cope with these problems. With regards to Venice, the focus will be on the logistic issues, safeguard of the cultural and environmental heritage, as well as on recovery and integration of suburban areas. For what the city of Barcelona is concerned, we will focus on rising estate prices, illegal rents and noisy neighbourhoods.