Jan-Henrik Nilsson
Senior lecturer, associate professor
Borders to digital nomadism, reflections based on science driven mobility
Den digitala nomadismens gränser, reflektioner utifrån vetenskapens mobilitet
Author
Summary, in English
Current literature describes digital nomadism as an interesting for tourism research but a relatively exclusive social phenomenon (Chevtaeva & Denizci-Guillet, 2021; Thompson, 2019). Digital nomads are self-employed people with a mobile lifestyle made possible by digital work. Based on that description, it would seem like a research field with limited societal significance. However, the call for this round table suggests a need to discuss a wider spectrum of mobilities that have become significant in an increasingly flexible and place independent work-life.
The impact of current mobility patterns on local conditions, for instance tourism driven gentrification (Cocola-Gant & Lopez-Gay, 2020), has gained interest in tourism geography. The development of current mobilities also relates to New Urban Tourism (Ba et al., 2022), a perspective aimed to describe socio-cultural and spatial change taking place in cities related to increasing international mobility, for example discussing different kinds of temporary locals, including such as lifestyle migrants, international students, and people on working contracts in local firms (Novy, 2017).
The term Science Driven Mobility (Eskilsson & Nilsson, 2022) describes mobility driven by globalized education and research, of people receding at a place studying, or doing research for a limited time. Although highly mobile, research still depends on geographically fixed conditions. The mobility of students and scientists has significant impact on VFR, the local hotels and other accommodation, local socio-cultural conditions, and regional infrastructure. This will be illustrated using examples from Lund, Sweden; a city currently going through substantial structural change driven by academic internationalization and major investments in research and development.
These issues raise a number of questions:
• How should we understand these types of mobility at different geographical scales?
• What are the consequences of SDM for planning and politics?
• What are the consequences for theory of tourism geography and sociology?
The impact of current mobility patterns on local conditions, for instance tourism driven gentrification (Cocola-Gant & Lopez-Gay, 2020), has gained interest in tourism geography. The development of current mobilities also relates to New Urban Tourism (Ba et al., 2022), a perspective aimed to describe socio-cultural and spatial change taking place in cities related to increasing international mobility, for example discussing different kinds of temporary locals, including such as lifestyle migrants, international students, and people on working contracts in local firms (Novy, 2017).
The term Science Driven Mobility (Eskilsson & Nilsson, 2022) describes mobility driven by globalized education and research, of people receding at a place studying, or doing research for a limited time. Although highly mobile, research still depends on geographically fixed conditions. The mobility of students and scientists has significant impact on VFR, the local hotels and other accommodation, local socio-cultural conditions, and regional infrastructure. This will be illustrated using examples from Lund, Sweden; a city currently going through substantial structural change driven by academic internationalization and major investments in research and development.
These issues raise a number of questions:
• How should we understand these types of mobility at different geographical scales?
• What are the consequences of SDM for planning and politics?
• What are the consequences for theory of tourism geography and sociology?
Department/s
- Department of Service Studies
Publishing year
2023-09-21
Language
English
Full text
Document type
Conference paper: abstract
Topic
- Economic Geography
Keywords
- tourism geography
- urban tourism
- mobility
- digital nomads
Conference name
31st Nordic Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality Research
Conference date
2023-09-19 - 2023-09-21
Conference place
Östersund, Sweden
Status
Published
Project
- Rethinking urban tourism development: Dealing with sustainability in the age of over-tourism