Tourism is forming an increasingly significant component of the social and economic fabric of many major cities around the world. The quality of life for the residents of a city can be both degraded and enhanced by tourism and its associated developments. On the positive side, tourism can generate significant job opportunities and income within the urban economy.

Conversely, tourism can come to dominate certain sections of the city to the detriment of residents’ interests. Land uses and services change to become more geared to satisfying the tourists’ desires, which can make it more expensive and less convenient for the residents to satisfy their basic living requirements. Tourists can also take over valued leisure places and spaces that were previously the domain of the local residents. Within this broad range of possible effects, this paper considers one aspect of the relationship between tourism and the quality of urban life. The focus is on tourism and leisure precincts within the city of Sydney, Australia — spaces and places that are shared by both tourists and residents. In particular it considers how Sydneysiders view these precincts and whether their perspectives on these places differ significantly from those of tourists. It also considers the extent to which tourism might contribute to or detract from the experience of local users of these places.