Who cleans up after tourists’ mess? In city centres across Europe, it is low-income and migrant residents who keep streets clean. Rome is prime example, with its famous monuments and piazzas cleaned daily by people who live outside of the wealthy city centre. These workers are vital to the city. Yet we rarely see them around. Regarded by most as spoilers of the historic atmosphere, cleaners are demanded to work early or late in the day, and rest in spaces that visitors avoid. Through archival and ethnographic research, this project aims to contrast the exclusion of urban cleaners in touristic landscapes. Tracing the invisible city of maintenance that cleaners use and produce every day, it centres them as protagonists of heritage-making who deserve recognition and more just working conditions.

This project is conducted by Dr Francesca Piazzoni, and funded by the UK AHRC (Research Engagement and Development Fellowship)