Living in a World Heritage City: stakeholders in the dialectic of the universal and particular

Abstract This article is based on research undertaken in Québec city focusing on heritage interpretation and the promotion of 'national identity'. The discussion opens with a review of the term heritage, now identified as an 'industry', but also a problematic notion located in the dialectic of the universal and the particular. An assessment of the historic quarter, a World Heritage Site, provides the basis for a critique of the differing perspectives and identities used by the various stakeholders, including local residents and visitor groups. These various perspectives, on what is a contested 'national' heritage site, are manifested in the promotion of the capital city of New France and separatist Québec and the benign but nonetheless federal presence represented by Parks Canada, the National Battlefield and National Defence Commissions, which together control and interpret the key heritage sites. In giving a voice to the local, the paper articulates the concerns of a declining but increasingly vocal resident group, reflecting the gentrification and 'touristification' of the historic district and the realities of living in aWorld Heritage City, and the conflicts between the presentation of this city to a greater francophonie, and the promotion of an urban tourism destination to a wider Canada and world. Keywords: World Heritage SiteQuebec CityUrban TourismContested Identities