‘Islands within Islands?’ The Maldivian resort, between segregation and integration

摘要： 马尔代夫度假岛屿是一种旅游飞地, 具有两种边界。这些岛屿的 外部边界与每个岛屿的海岸线以及度假村私人财产的界限一致, 这条边界控制着游客和当地人的流动。这些岛屿的内部边界也将 岛屿的外部边界和内部边界分开。岛屿的外缘边界是“热带岛屿 ”的完美景观, 它拥有所有的旅游设施, 而内缘边界则有专门确保度 假村新陈代谢活动的设施。前线员工和游客分享的度假区外缘的 美梦幻境, 而维修工人住在岛屿内部隐秘的空间里,在那里他们通 常被高墙隐藏在游客的视野之外,和他们的活动通常局限于从员工 生活区域到工作场所。对于维护工人来说, 由于珊瑚群岛面积狭 小, 这些空间必然受到限制, 因此有可能成为“岛中岛”。 最近, 马尔代夫政府开始推动岛屿度假区和邻近社区之间一体化 的举措。因此, 如今, 度假岛屿的外部界限更为宽松。相比之下, 它们的内部边界仍然很难跨越。

The Maldives resort islands are a type of tourist enclave subject to a dual form of borderization. The islands have an external border that coincides with each island’s coastline and with the limits of the private property of the resort; this border regulates the movement of tourists and locals. The islands also have an internal border that separates the outer edge of the island from the inner edge. The outer edge, which is supposed to represent the perfect landscape of the ‘tropical island,’ houses all of the tourist facilities, while the interior contains the structures dedicated to the metabolic activities of the resort. The frontline staff members and the tourists share the ‘dreamscape’ of the outer edge, whereas the maintenance workers live in the secluded space inside the island, where they are typically hidden from the sight of tourists by high walls, and their movement is usually restricted from staff designated areas to their location of work. For maintenance workers, these spaces, necessarily limited due to the small size of the coral islands, risk becoming ‘islands within islands.’ Recently, the Maldivian government has begun to promote projects and initiatives in support of territorial integration between the resorts and communities of neighboring islands. Thus, the outer limits of the resort islands are, today, more porous. Their internal borders, in contrast, remain very difficult to cross.