Over the last several decades there have been significant changes in the approaches to the planning and development of tourism in urban areas. During the 1970s and 1980s, many core industrial cities (especially in Western Europe and the manufacturing areas of North America) went through a period of economic restructuring. Economic restructuring resulted in the decline of heavy industry and manufacturing. Many companies relocated industries and manufacturing bases to developing countries where labor costs were less and environmental regulations were not as strict. The cities that lost their industrial base began to stagnate and decline. For example, Glasgow, Scotland, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, saw significant declines in the economic bases on which these cities thrived, ship building and steel production, respectively.

Cities that suffered decline had to ...