RICERCA ITALIANA     

Tourism development and territorial transformations. Urban areas, ecosystems and regional complexity.

Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"

Abstract

The research program deals with the geography of tourism development, both from a theoretical-analitical and from an applicative-methodological point of view, with a particular reference to Italy and the whole Euro-mediterranean area. In relation to the specific themes analysed by each research unit, activities will regard: the definition of a general theoretical framework, the development and application of specific methodologies for the analysis of case studies, the systematic collection of data and information from primary and secondary sources and the analysis of key topics related to tourism development and the organization of geographical space.
Expected results are – inter alias - the realization of a Geographic Information System of tourism, the development and publication on-line of a research database and of a "catalogue of best practices" for the governance and promotion of tourism development. Research themes are many: the analysis of the evolution of territorial models and their relation with the geography of tourism development, the evaluation of the impact of tourism, the identification of analytical approaches capable of drawing the processes of tourism valorisation for peri-urban areas, the definition of a theoretical reference framework with the aim of a logical and normative analysis on the various possible articulations between tourism and the environment, the development of advanced tools for the analysis of "territorial accommodation" and the >>>

Principal Investigator

Attilio CELANT Università degli Studi di ROMA "La Sapienza"

Research Objectives

The main objective of the research is the analysis of interrelations between tourism development and the organization of geographical space, through the evaluation and representation of the complexity of tourism and of its territorial impact.
Research themes are many and overlapping: the analysis of the evolution of territorial models and their relation with the geography of tourism development; the evaluation of the impact of tourism in a frame of of regional complexity; the identification of analytical approaches capable of drawing the processes of tourism valorisation for peri-urban areas, as well as methods for the analysis of plans and projects by which local communities promote local development; the drawing of a theoretical reference framework with the aim of a logical and normative analysis on the various possible articulations between tourism and the environment; the development of advanced tools for the analysis of "territorial accommodation" and the identification of strategies targeted at small and medium enterprises for the valorisation of places, the diffusion of know-how and investments in innovation; the analysis of interdependencies between tourism, cultural and environmental resources, leisure ports, assets and processes of regional and local development.

The general objective is the development and application of specific methodologies for the analysis, evaluation and representation of tourism development, and particularly the >>>

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

Tourism development has shown an impressive and increasing influence on territorial transformations in recent years, producing extremely visible effects in the most various geographical contexts varying from metropolitan areas to peripheral or inner regions.
"Tourism" as a definition, appears more and more inadequate in order to tackle with the diversity of motivations explaining people's mobility, in a world where physical and economic distances are constantly reducing.
Many local systems in advanced countries – after the indisputable failure of the traditional models of development - recognize the importance of tourism in the frame of a more general reorientation of their economic base toward a post-industrial society. Moreover they recognize the importance of the territory as a source of competitiveness.
For this reason tourism has been integrated in various policy areas, at different scales - local, national, European - , as it promises to conjugate territorial sustainability and the quality of living spaces on one hand, while tackling – o the other hand - with problems such as competitiveness, development and employment
Relations between tourism development and the geographic space should however be analyzed as complex and varying according to the scale of observation. The geographic approach to Tourism analysis, has recently grown in importance, not only among the number of disciplines dealing with tourism, but also in relation to the >>>