Martine Geronimi
Symbolic landscapes of Vieux-Quebec

Vieux-Québec in Quebec City has become to international tourists a high-end commodity since the attribution of the Unesco World Heritage label to the city in 1985. It is a socially constructed area which carries many French symbolic values, which is left by its language, culture and history. World heritage landscapes as those of Vieux-Québec are cultural landscapes in which symbols and images of the past are recurrent. In Vieux-Québec the notions of city improvement and architectural rehabilitation are pre-eminent. In Old-Quebec commodification of culture is embedded in the symbolic landscape presented to mass tourists in our era of globalization. Quebec City has thru the Internet strengthened its reputation as a successful place for tourists.

In this chapter we have tentatively demonstrated that Old-Quebec is a perfect example of the collapse of barriers in space and time and a progressive loss of exclusivity. The official proclamation of the French identity of the old district is reappropriated by tourism, by its residents and by business interests.

Since 1985, when the world Heritage city label conferred additional prestige on the Vieux-Québec, the city has seen an increase in the number of its international customers. Specifically Place Royale appears to be a common place and a sort of reserve for tourists. However surprisingly we may admit that Vieux-Québec residents retain a very strong attachment to their urban setting; they feel proud of their heritage environment and they choose to live and stay in Vieux-Québec. Even though the Vieux-Québec is a ‘non-place’ for families, it is now repopulating thank to the efforts of the city government.

But Vieux-Québec images depend on the eyes of the beholders. For the Vieux-Québec Tourism Office and the Quebec Urban Community Congress tourist bureau, the Heritage center is a simple “marketing product”. It seems to conduct Vieux-Québec to the