Entrepreneurship and urban marketing: the commodification of the “historic” downtown Tiradentes, Minas Gerais, from the viewpoint of tourism

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate how the Central area of the city of Tiradentes in the State of Minas Gerais was turned into some “touristic” goods, from the 1990s. Such change occurred by means of entrepreneurship and urban marketing, which passed on to show this city off through the “sale” of urban areas composed by so-called “historical” architectures in the national and international scenarios. In that process, the central area of the city started to get more investments in urban infrastructure and the “historical buildings” or sites became “a feast for the eyes” and “worth a lot of money”. In this way, the homes which existed in the space composed by these “historical constructions” were turned into commercial stores and the poor residents went to live in the suburbs, which were less evaluated by the rental service.