Nonwestern Popcultural Placemaking

The shifting power constellations of globalization constantly affect placemaking practices and opportunities for tourism destinations, striving to create a ‘unique’ sense of place on international markets. Contemporary nonwestern representations of Europe are a case in point, illustrating asymmetric effects on the imaginaries and travel choices of resident and diasporic Asian middle classes (Monteneiro 2014; Dudrah 2012; Josiam et al. 2015). Despite the claimed significance of the creative industries on tourism flows (Young & Young 2008; Roesch 2009; Schaefer & Karan 2012; Euroscreen 2015), the complex relationships between popcultural phenomena, leisure mobility and regional development are little understood (Connell 2012). This study addresses the spatial consequences of mediatized tourism in Interlaken (Switzerland) and illustrates how non-western popcultural representations trigger new entrepreneurial initiatives and relationships transcending traditional Swiss placemaking trajectories. Adopting a dialectic and multi-scalar ontology of place (Massey 1999; Sheppard 2002), the paper draws on the notion of positionality and texture to analyse transforming place-making imageries and practices.