| Focusing on post-9/11 New York City as a case study, the central hypothesis of this dissertation is that cities affected by a terrorist action utilize, at least temporarily, the actors of their respective tourism-related industries to reaffirm the emotional affiliation that their residents and business leaders have with their affected city, and to instill a sense of confidence that re-investing in the city is a wise economic and personal choice.;Building upon the growth machine thesis of Logan and Molotch (1987), and expanding upon the research of Greenberg (2008a) and Gladstone and Fainstein (2001), this dissertation confirms that at least in the case of post 9/11 New York, the tourism-led growth coalition was employed to boost the morale and sense of connectedness to New York for those already residing and conducting business in the city. During the height of the tourism-led growth coalition's influence, the city's real estate industry focused its energies on securing public funding for physical redevelopment and residential & office tenancy incentive programs that were less in the public eye than were the tourism-led growth coalition's efforts. The city's bid to secure the 2012 Olympic Games and its efforts to extend the Midtown Central Business District to include the West Side rail yards area placed New York's real estate interests back in the forefront of public discourse about growth.;While its hegemony in leading city growth may have been fleeting, the tourism-led coalition acted swiftly and purposefully to serve as a salve against a pervasive sense of fear and instability caused by the rapid succession of terrorist attacks on New York, first on the World Trade Center and then by Anthrax-tainted letters. Through its actions, the tourism-led growth coalition helped stem the potential tide of businesses and residents leaving New York for more safe and secure locales. |
