10-03-2025
The residential neighbourhoods where tourists are ruining everyday life
I was 11 when my South African-born dad first took me for bobotie in Cape Town's Bo Kaap district. He had a craving for the sweetish Cape Malay alternative to shepherd's pie that he'd adored in childhood, so we drove into the city centre (at that time, well off the tourist map) and bought two portions from a hole-in-the-wall takeaway. Then we sat in the car and devoured it greedily – and not a soul went past.
It was 1990, the year that Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and the mood in the city was cautiously optimistic – but Bo Kaap was still one of only a handful of non-white neighbourhoods in the city centre. In 1957, it had been declared 'Malay-only' under the Group Areas Act, meaning that those descended from the Muslim slaves who'd arrived from Asia and settled in the neighbourhood just about held onto their homes and continued to forge a strong culture. Meanwhile, black residents of nearby District Six were evicted to the new townships of the Cape Flats, their own histories erased like their homes.
Bo Kaap's residents are concerned that the recent influx of visitors aren't aware of its past. Three decades have passed since that bobotie excursion and the neighbourhood has become a bucket list destination for the social media savvy, who come to take pictures of its paintbox-shaded houses, arriving in tour buses that jam its narrow alleys and quickly leaving without spending money.
'Tourists create traffic challenges as we don't have dedicated walking spaces. They walk on the side of the road, or in the road depending on space,' says local resident and heritage activist Jacky Poking. 'Those in tour buses are off-loaded in the middle of the street, causing traffic jams and delays. Then buses park in the street, not parking bays, and wait there while tourists take pictures. Their vehicles are idling while they wait for the tourists to return, which can be 30 minutes later.'
Meanwhile, prices are rising as second home owners move in, chipping away at a unique culture forged over centuries. 'As more and more people buy in Bo Kaap, our rates increase because they're based on the market value of your home. They see it as an investment to resell at a later date, not a home. But for residents, our investment in Bo Kaap is that it is home. We want to continue living here and raising our families.'
Residents acknowledge that tourism could be good for the neighbourhood. The problem is that many fail to visit its museum or eat in its cafes and restaurants, meaning little of their money is spent locally. It's still possible to visit and be respectful: among the Airbnbs are homestays with local families, and there are still great places to eat bobotie too (try Biesmiellah on Lower Loop Street).
Bo Kaap isn't the only residential area with a visitor problem. As overtourism becomes part of the everyday, it has begun to seep into local neighbourhoods across the world. From sleepy riverside suburbs to the swishest city streets, we take a look at some others below.
Arashiyama, Kyoto
By mid-morning, the quiet peace of this Kyoto suburb, whose river and mountains seem to have hopped from an ancient painting, is shattered. Snakes of tour bus tourists wind their way to the same points around town – Togetsukyo Bridge, the bamboo grove and monkey park – before buying souvenirs in the Miffy-themed bakery or Snoopy chocolate shop along the neighbourhood's main thoroughfare.
Kyoto has an acknowledged problem with overtourism and inner city areas such as Gion are waging a well-publicised battle against inappropriate visitor behaviour and congestion. But here – where ancient houses quickly segue to the green and gold of empty forest – it can seem just as incongruous. Now, residents are concerned about over-crowded buses and trains, as well as how to contain the rubbish created by visitors according to English-language website News On Japan.
Surprisingly though, just minutes away from Arashiyama's well-trodden tick-off points, you can mooch its spiralling streets and bamboo-encircled shrines in absolute peace. Leafy Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street winds its way upwards to Adashino Nenbutsu-ji temple, with traditional houses dotted between shops and restaurants and only a trickle of tourists.
The city is trying to tempt more visitors to this lesser-trodden area. 'In November 2024, the GPS-linked digital map and Saga Arashiyama Tour Guide was released in both Japanese and English. It promotes the attractions of Saga by introducing recommended courses for sightseeing, displaying the locations of trash cans, toilets, bicycle share facilities and more, as well as introducing limited-time events,' said a spokesperson.
Meanwhile, it seems that some local residents have embraced the new buzz of this once-sleepy suburb. Feedback to city officials revealed that 'the increase in tourists has led to an increase in cafes and other restaurants, which has contributed to the liveliness of the town.'
Trastevere, Rome
The shady streets of this working-class neighbourhood were off-the-tourist-radar a few decades ago, but a central location and plenty of charm have put them well and truly on the map. Now, the area is crammed with Airbnbs for tourists seeking a more 'authentic' experience – though authenticity is being lost as locals struggle to afford to live in their old stomping ground.
Almost half have left over the last ten years according to The Times while a 2022 study by the Italian National Research Centre and others found that more than 10 per cent of housing in Rome's historic centre (including Trastevere) is now given over to Airbnb listings.
These days, visitors cram the bars and restaurants of the area's piazzas while permanent residents complain about the noise and the rubbish they leave on the streets. Meanwhile, old shops have moved out, the victims of rapidly increasing rents. In their place, souvenir stores line the cobbles, making it hard to buy everyday items locally at competitive prices.
It's become so bad that, in 2024, a band of anonymous activists glued the district's Airbnb key boxes shut in protest against rising rents and evictions. 'A home is a right, not a goose that lays golden eggs,' they said in a statement released at the time. 'Rents are rising and the number of people being evicted is sky high.'
Dumbo, New York
Thirty years ago, Dumbo was a grimy part of town in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, packed with neglected warehouses. But, since then, the neighbourhood has made a virtue of its position glancing towards the skyscrapers across the water: Washington Street is now a key stop-off for millions of Instagrammers keen to position themselves in front of the bridge and right at the centre of things.
In 2024, a World Economic Forum report highlighted the problems of overtourism in the area, citing an increase in pedestrian accidents, traffic issues and small businesses struggling to stay afloat. Meanwhile, residents complain of tour bus traffic, street traders and plenty of rubbish during regular town hall meetings.
In 2022, some of them sent a petition to their local councillor. 'We cannot understand why our quality of life has been sacrificed so that the Dumbo Bid [Business Improvement District] can attract more hordes of tourists to our home,' it said. 'This also deeply affects business owners, many of whom are afraid to speak out about not being able to get deliveries and having constant running smog from idling food trucks, not to mention zero dedicated space for parking for their businesses or residents.'
Notting Hill, London
The side streets of Notting Hill used to be quiet enclaves, a world away from the buzz of its main thoroughfares. Even in the midst of Boho Chic, when thousands of Sienna-alikes pounded the pavements of Portobello, the residential parts of the borough remained largely unwalked. But things are different now: the area's 'painted streets', full of neat rows of pastel terraces, have become a thing to Instagram – like Japan's Seven-Elevens and Paris's best croissants.
Tourists can follow online trails past the pink house featured in Love Actually towards Boris Johnson's childhood home amid the candy-coloured terraces of Elgin Crescent. However, in 2020, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea urged visitors to stay away from the former, with a spokesperson explaining it was 'stepping in to help protect the resident's privacy and encourage visitors to try out other famous locations in the borough.'
But for other Notting Hill homeowners, a profusion of TikTok and Instagram-driven tourists underlines just how lucky they are. As the chairman of the residents' association of the sugared-almond Hillgate Village conservation area puts it, 'you have to look at the bigger perspective. It's better to live in an area like this than an area that has very different sorts of problems and that tourists wouldn't want to visit. I think we are very privileged'.
