In light of Weber's theory, this paper investigates the effects of residents' motivation, perceived power, knowledge and economic gain on their perceptions toward tourism development. The data for this study was collected from urban residents of the George Town World Heritage Site (WHS), Malaysia. The results reveal positive effects for perceived power, knowledge and economic gain on residents' positive perceptions. A negative effect for motivation and a positive effect for knowledge on residents' negative perceptions was also observed. This study makes a significant contribution by using Weber's theory and by having been conducted in an urban WHS context. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.