Stakeholders' attitudes towards tools for sustainable tourism in historical cities

Urban space is often the cause of disputes. The underlying causes of these disputes are conflicting interests, attitudes and needs regarding the way it is used. Among the various functions performed by cities, tourism activities have been distinguished as the foremost in the cities of historical value. Mass tourism has developed in the last decade and its excessive flow of tourists has in turn led to overtourism which as described in literature is a negative phenomenon. The causes of conflicts related to the development of tourism and their scale are very diverse. The freezing of the tourism economy during the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity to balance its development in the future. As described in the article, this research aims at identifying the attitudes and expectations of Krakow's residence towards the tools of balancing the tourism economy in the post pandemic period. The statistical analysis of the acquired data collected through questionnaires from 386 respondents during July 2020 revealed that most of the respondents support the preservation of cultural heritage and landscapes over business and profit making.

Investigating the Relationship between Users' Behavioral Intentions and Learning Effects of VR System for Sustainable Tourism Development

Macao is a tourist city. It is home to the Ruins of Saint Paul's, a unique 100-year-old landmark, which is still standing with manual maintenance, even after three fires and reconstruction events. Therefore, the continuous preservation of its culture, heritage education, and construction are important issues for Macao. With the development of digital technology in recent years, users can quickly search historical sites and save two-dimensional and three-dimensional images and videos through smartphones. These methods also enhance the communication power of culture. Virtual browsing on a smartphone requires computing power and storage space;yet, virtual reality devices are not widely used. Therefore, augmented reality and virtual reality are rarely used simultaneously for three-dimensional interactive guided tours and operation experiences on the same theme. However, by quickly creating virtual reality scenarios and preserving historical sites on mobile devices, 4DAGE's 4DKanKan technology can provide augmented reality and metaverse virtual reality experiences. 4DKanKan can also integrate mobile guides and navigation software to connect mobile devices and assist in cultural inheritance and conduct sustainable education. This research linked this technology to the web by incorporating augmented reality and virtual reality technology to make designs and discussed the influences among service design, behavioral intentions, and learning effects. We collated and analyzed relevant data and text materials through systematic testing, observation, operation processes, and semi-structured interviews. The PLS multigroup structural model was used to explore and analyze the degree of influence and explanatory power of system quality, information quality, behavioral intention, and learning effects among themselves. The results of this study show that most users accepted the proposed innovative mode of operation and found it to be interesting and fun. Augmented reality is not limited by space or time;however, virtual reality devices taking too long to operate, switching too frequently, and having too many functional interfaces can cause operational problems. This study identified and modified the influencing factors and problems of the proposed system, with the aim of continuing to expand the applications of 4DKanKan to other cultural attractions or museums in the future. In addition, the research results can provide a reference for the sustainable development of related cultural sites.

Investigating Change in the Willingness to Pay for a More Sustainable Tourist Destination in a World Heritage City

The willingness to pay for sustainable tourism products and services has been widely discussed in the scientific literature. However, change in the willingness to pay over time has rarely been analysed. Such studies are important for understanding the impact that the increasing debate on sustainability, including environmental, economic, and social aspects, may have had on the willingness of tourists to pay more in order to ensure the sustainability of destinations. The aim of this article is to assess how the willingness of tourists to pay for sustainable tourism services has developed in the Spanish city of Cáceres, declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. Data from surveys conducted in 2012 and 2016 were used for this purpose. Logistic regression was applied to determine whether sociodemographic characteristics of tourists who visit the city influenced their willingness to pay in each year. A Chow test was applied to elucidate whether the differences between the years were statistically significant. The results obtained indicate that only the level of education determined willingness to pay, while origin, gender and age showed no effect. No significant change in the willingness to pay for sustainability was found among tourists in Cáceres between 2012 and 2016. These findings indicate that the willingness to pay for more sustainable tourism services did not increase during the period studied. We propose some measures such as a ‘municipal observatory of sustainable tourism’ in order to increase willingness to pay in this type of destination.

Management and Mapping Ecosystem Services in a Privately Owned Natura 2000 Site: An Insight into the Stellantis–La Mandria Site (Italy)

The Natura 2000 network is an ecological network covering the whole territory of the European Union to ensure the long-term maintenance of threatened or rare natural habitats and species of flora and fauna, including in metropolitan and rural areas. Some of the Natura 2000 sites have been subject to changes in ownership that have led to a fragmentation of the territory. Private entities may own areas within a Natura 2000 site and must ensure sustainable management of their property, especially from an ecological point of view. The case study is the Stellantis–La Mandria site, a private area owned by Stellantis, within the Natura 2000 site “ZSC IT1110079 La Mandria”, near Turin. The research proposes a participatory methodology, mainly addressed in this first phase to experts and professionals and aimed at the valorisation and management of private Natura 2000 sites previously considered as industrial sites, to allow a careful fruition and safeguarding of the natural heritage. The aim of the research is to provide a methodological approach and the first qualitative results useful to providing the owners with an indication for a more targeted management of the site;mapping the areas that provide ecosystem services (ES, especially cultural ones);mapping the areas that could be subject to future fruition;collaborating with the managing body to collect useful data for the future drafting of a new area plan. Two main research activities were carried out, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis concerning the management and possible future fruition of the site and a participatory mapping of ES. It should be emphasised that the research allowed the first results to be obtained, which, on the one hand, make it possible to validate the methodology used to achieve the objectives and, on the other hand, the results will have to be implemented over time by involving numerous stakeholders among those who can access the private area. The results of the research highlight opportunities and threats with regard to the conservation of ecological–environmental characteristics and future fruition of the site. The participatory mapping identifies areas with different ecological value and, therefore, different management needs and identifies areas that could be used differently for future fruition. Overall, the results aim to meet some of the European Commission’s wishes regarding Natura 2000 sites, with particular reference to the involvement of different stakeholders and experts for the conservation of biodiversity and the integration of ecological and social aspects into the management and fruition plans.

Diversity in Protected Area Governance and Its Implications for Management: An Institutional Analysis of Selected Parks in Iceland

A protected area (PA) is essentially a governance system, a spatially defined area encompassing natural and/or cultural attributes, governed by a set of actors with different roles and institutional frameworks. There are many types of PA governance systems, guided by historical-, site-specific- and context-dependent factors. This study has the objective to advance understanding of PA governance systems, their diversity and the implications for management. We take the case of Iceland and five of its major PAs. We develop an analytical framework for the study of PA governance systems, investigating their evolutionary trajectories, conducting a comparative institutional analysis of their environmental governance systems (EGS), and assessing their management implications using nature-based tourism as a key variable. We find this framework effective and applicable beyond this study. We find great diversity in the five PA governance systems that has not come by chance but deliberately negotiated in their protracted establishment trajectories. At the individual park level, such PA diversity can be embraced as a sign of an adaptive approach to governance instead of a one-size-fits-all solution while at the national level, however, such fragmentation constitutes coordination challenges. Our analysis of the current portfolio of PA governance systems reveals they accommodate most of the needed management measures, but a problem remains concerning scattered and locked-in individual governance systems that do not support coordinated action and sharing of expertise and resources. This calls upon policy guidance with more formal coordination, such as a legal and national policy framework embracing PA governance diversity, but also securing more coordinated measures for day-to-day management.

Advanced Technologies Used in Digitizing the Cultural Heritage of Northwestern Colchis: The Experience of the Markul Expedition

The article presents the experience of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Science’s Markul Expedition, which utilized digital technologies for the study, preservation, and popularization of cultural heritage. The objective of the Markul Expedition was to obtain a complete picture of the historical and cultural landscape of Northwestern Colchis in antiquity by applying two key digital technologies: geographic information systems (GIS) and photogrammetry. The results obtained from the latter were used both independently and were integrated into GIS as separate layers (orthophotomaps, digital terrain models) or as hyperlinks to objects (3D models, videos, plans, sections, etc.). The objects investigated by the expedition are very diverse both in size and in terms of shooting conditions. Accordingly, each category of archaeological site required an individual approach, and a separate methodology and equipment. The final visualization angles differ to a fair extent from the original samples even though photogrammetry provides more accurate results than manual measurements. There are several reasons for this, including the vegetation, which is a dominant factor in the Caucasus subtropical area and led to partial visual distortions of the photographed objects. For this reason, the final projections of architectural forms required corrections and some hand drawing. In this process, new aspects appeared in the final result, resulting from the archaeologist and artist’s differing views of the objects. Our experience of using modern remote sensing technologies is also presented in the article.

Sustainable Tourism in Cities—Nature Reserves as a ‘New’ City Space for Nature-Based Tourism

Visible trends in city tourism related to the development of sustainable tourism clearly imply an increase in the significance of green areas and the development of nature-based tourism. Natural areas in cities that ideally fit the assumptions of sustainable tourism are nature reserves—areas where protection of the valuable environment is a priority. This paper aims to highlight that nature reserves are green spots in cities that can be excellent sites for sustainable tourism. The choice of big cities was dictated by the fact that they have the highest requirement for recreational green spaces due to a high concentration of tourist traffic in historic city centres and a clearer need for sustainable forms of tourism. Sixteen nature reserves in five big Polish cities with a population of more than 100,000: Gdańsk, Łódź, Poznań, Toruń, and Warsaw were selected for the study. Field surveys were carried out in nature reserves to see whether basic tourism facilities providing information about nature, supporting education, and conservation of the natural environment existed in the publicly available areas of such reserves. The attractiveness of nature reserves to tourists and their suitability for developing sustainable tourism was evaluated through score-based valuation of the reserves. The valorisation index was used for a synthetic rating and classification of the reserves in terms of attractiveness. The results of surveys imply a possibility of using selected nature reserves in cities for developing sustainable forms of active tourism—in particular hiking and cycling, educational tourism and daily recreational activities of city residents. The sites in question can be regarded as attractive ecotourism products, and as such hold the potential to become a popular destination among tourists and eco-tourists in particular.

An Analysis and Evaluation Methodology as a Basis for the Sustainable Development Strategy of Small Historic Towns: The Cultural Landscape of the Settlement of Lubenice on the Island of Cres in Croatia

Lubenice on the island of Cres in Croatia is one of the most valuable examples of a small historic Mediterranean town. Although the settlement is protected as an immovable cultural property and is also on the list of cultural assets of the Republic of Croatia for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List, developmental stagnation, continuous demographic decline, decay of part of the valuable building stock, inappropriate interventions on individual houses and the emergence of radical intervention initiatives in a time of change demand a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of the town’s cultural heritage. This article presents a methodology for the analysis of a cultural landscape using the example of Lubenice. The methodological approach is based on the analysis of the historical development and of natural, urban and architectural features of the cultural landscape. The components of the cultural landscape were evaluated using general and specific criteria. Conducting an evaluation according to this methodology provides guidelines for future interventions in order to improve the preservation of historic heritage and prevent damage by future interventions, while ensuring sustainable development.

Challenges and Possibilities of Archaeological Sites Virtual Tours: The Ulaca Oppidum (Central Spain) as a Case Study

This research presents a virtual tour performed on the oppidum of Ulaca, one of the most relevant archaeological sites of the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Iron Age (ca. 400–50 BC). Beyond the clear benefits of the tool to the interpretation, dissemination, and knowledge of the mentioned archaeological site and its surroundings, the novelty of this research is the implementation of the platform in alternative scenarios and purposes. In this way, the present work verifies how the access to multi-source and spatially geolocated information in the same tool (working as a geospatial database) allows the promotion of cross-sectional investigations in which different specialists intervene. This peculiarity is also considered useful to promote tourism with an interest beyond the purely historical/archaeological side. Likewise, the possibility of storing and managing a large amount of information in different formats facilitates the investigation in the contexts of excavations and archaeological or environmental works. In this sense, the use of this kind of tool for the study of cultural landscapes is especially novel. In order to better contextualize the potential of the virtual tour presented here, an analysis about the challenges and possibilities of implementing this tool in environments such as the Ulaca oppidum is performed. The selected site stands out for: (i) being in a unique geological, environmental and ecological context, allowing us to appreciate how human beings have modified the landscape over time;(ii) presenting numerous visible archaeological remains with certain conservation problems;and (iii) not having easy access for visitors.

Urban Land and Development Management in a Challenged Developing World: An Overview of New Reflections

The urban development and management challenges of the developing world are well documented in the literature. However, the global built environment landscape is undergoing rapid changes. These changes are steeped in three fundamental imperatives, which have serious implications for the developing world. These imperatives are population growth and rising urbanisation;environmental challenges, particularly climate change and the quest to embrace sustainability as a panacea;and advances in technological development. This paper discusses these three imperatives with the view to teasing out their implications for urban development and management in the developing world. Consistent with the literature, the paper establishes that most of the population growth and rising urbanisation are occurring in the developing world, particularly Africa and Asia, and although these phenomena have the tendency to increase economic density and promote both private and public investment in urban development, especially construction/housing and related infrastructure activities, there are and will be several problems with them. These include land tenure insecurity, lack of access to decent affordable housing and the threat of destruction to heritage sites. Furthermore, environmental challenges such as poor waste management, and climate change are and will remain pressing issues requiring the adoption of sustainability credentials because of legislative requirements, moral suasion, and value addition. Despite the potential disruptive nature of technology with respect to some aspects of the built environment, it is recognised that advances in technology are essential to the achievement of optimal urban development and management outcomes in the developing world. The paper, therefore, recommends better understanding of the socio-economic, cultural, and political forces underlying urban growth in the developing world, factoring in technology and sustainability in urban development and management, and collaboration among relevant actors, particularly government and the private sector, for optimal outcomes.

Rome’s GRAB—Great Bicycle Ring Route—As Complex Landscape Infrastructure

This paper aims to describe the design strategy adopted in Rome to support and enhance sustainable mobility. It is a strategy aimed at promoting new green infrastructures for urban accessibility, daily sports practice and social inclusion in a historic city, stratified and not very inclined to change. Therefore, the dissemination of this experience is useful for planning a sustainable future for heritage cities that ensures an appropriate and equitable balance between conservation and development. Sustainable mobility is now considered one of the most important challenges for metropolitan areas and large conurbations. In these terms, Rome is a weak city. The city’s great bicycle ring route (GRAB), an integral part of the Extraordinary Tourism Mobility Plan 2017-22, is a key infrastructure for increasing more sustainable and healthier modes of travel, even on a local scale. The GRAB project, whose complex infrastructure provides multiple services, differs from a simple cycle path network. Its complexity refers to an ability to attract different types of users in different types of urban contexts—historical settings, monuments, newer neighborhoods and areas of contemporary urbanization. The project results can be measured first in relation to its progress (already funded, in the executive planning phase, with the approval of the first construction sites expected by 2022). A second important result is the participation of institutional bodies and citizens’ associations, which will oversee the construction and maintenance work as well as infuse into the project a constant vitality, in a true civic ecology perspective. Third, the results are important for enhancing metropolitan area accessibility and the environmental and social re-activation of the areas crossed, achieved directly and through the project’s realization. The GRAB strategy belongs to the new generation of landscape projects that have radically changed the priorities and hierarchies of intervention in the contexts of contemporary urbanization. These projects are based on the ecological analysis of the context but are located close to the fluctuating dynamics of contemporary metropolises and the problems of exclusion and marginality—both spatial and social—linked to the very rapid ecological, economic and demographic transformations.

THE SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SMART CITY APPLICATIONS: PREFACE

This Conference Proceedings volume contains the written versions of the contributions presented during the 6th International Conference on Smart City Applications.The event had been planned to organized in Safranbolu Campus of Karabuk University, Turkey. Then, it has been converted to the online conference because of the Covid-19 situation. It took place with the motto of “Virtual Safranbolu” by inspiring historical UNESCO Heritage city Safranbolu, on October 27–29, 2021. The conference provided a setting for discussing recent developments in a wide variety of topics including Geo-Smart Information Systems, Smart Cities, 3D City Modeling and Visualization, Smart Building and Home Automation, Smart Environment and Smart Agriculture, Location Based Services, GeoInformation for Mobile, Wearable Technologies and Wireless Sensor Networks, Building Information Modeling, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Big Data and Urban Data Analytics, Smart Healthcare, Smart Economy and Digital Business, Smart Education and Intelligent Learning System, and etc.The event has been a good opportunity for the more than 400 participants coming from 43 countries of the world to present and discuss topics in their respective research areas. In addition, five keynote speakers presented latest achievements on their fields;Domingos Santos “Smart Cities Strategies: Critical Sucess Factors”, Mohsen Kalantari Soltanieh “Smart buildings to Smart cities – The role of BIM and GIS integration”, Ksentini Adlen, “Zero Touch Management and Orchestration of Network Slices in 5G and Beyond Networks”, Bakr M.Aly Ahmed, “Smart Sustainable Urbanism”, Yusuf Arayıcı, “Design for Energy:Prosumer Buildings”.The 86 papers that were selected as a result of review process and presented during the conference were accepted for the final publication in the ISPRS Archives.We would like to thank all participants, organizing and scientific committee members, and session chairs for their contributions to the conference program and these Proceedings.

Digital Marketing of Bulgarian Natural Heritage for Tourism and Recreation

The need for a closer and enhanced connection with nature, as the basis for human wellbeing, reinforces the importance of natural heritage governance, including wider and much improved access to information about nature-based tourism and recreation. This research seeks to reveal how Internet content can support the digital identification of nature sites and their branding as tourist destinations. To this end, it analyzes 20 exemplary websites, each known around the world, and highlights important current trends in the structuring and attractiveness of the information provided. Based on the devised benchmarking criteria, the study develops a benchmarking approach that improves digital “packaging” and marketing of natural heritage for the purposes of tourism, recreation, leisure, and sports, and then tests it in Bulgaria. The procedure includes the selection of 57 natural heritage sites and rating the content of their official websites. The results show an unsatisfactory level of representation of the heritage value of the Bulgarian NH and a severe depreciation of the provision of the necessary tourism and recreation information, in comparison to the selected global benchmark. Besides the outline of the most frequent gaps and shortcomings, the results provide managers with suggestions about the development of a “natural heritage” brand for tourism and recreation, which features amplification of site identity and messaging, plus enhancement of its visibility. The conclusions are applicable to a wide variety of geographical contexts and audiences in nature-based destination governance.

Preface

The 2nd International Conference on Energetics, Civil and Agricultural Engineering is an international event that has been successfully held in a hybrid mode (online and onsite) organized by the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers (TIIAME), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. ICECAE is a privileged space to discuss current issues related to Energetics, Civil and Agricultural Engineering. This international event aims to explore emerging technologies and concepts in a collaborative way, bringing together scientists, researchers, engineers, students and professionals from different areas. ICECAE 2021 proceedings collected the latest research and results in the field of energetics, civil and agricultural engineering. All manuscripts published in the proceeding have been through rigorous review and process to meet the requirements of international publication standard. In the honorable and keynote speeches sessions, honorable speakers were each allocated 40 minutes and keynote speakers were each allocated 20-25 minutes to hold their speeches. We were honored to invite 3 honorable speakers (Professor Josep M. Guerrero, Professor Saifur Rahman, and Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour) and 10 distinguished experts as keynote speakers to present their insightful speeches. As honorable speakers, Professor Josep M. Guerrero (from Aalborg University – Denmark) talked about Space Microgrids – NanoSats, Lunar Bases and Closed Ecosystems, Professor Saifur Rahman (from Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute - USA) delivered a speech on Global Electric Power Sector: Engaging with Environmental Issues, and Professor Mohammad Shahidehpour (from Illinois Institute of Technology - USA) held a speech on Blockchain for Transactive Energy Management in Renewable Energy Systems. As keynote speakers, Prof. Dr. Jan Wincenty Dobrowolski (AGH University of Science and Technology - Poland) shared his experiences related to his 50 years contribution to global cooperation on Sustainable Development 1971-2021 and innovative proposals for adaptation to climate change, COVID-19 and outer-space missions;Professor emeritus Dr. Davidas Belsare (from Bhopal University - India) made a speech about the effect of laser diode on oranges to other fruit crops like guava and papaya;Professor Justyna Kobylarczyk and Professor Michal Krupa (from Cracow University of Technology – Poland) held a speech on the topic of high quality of residential environment;Professor Jose Osvaldo B. Carioca (from Federal University of Ceara - Brazil) expressed his keynote address about synthesis of chitosan membranes to be used in dual system of dark fermentation and MEC-electrolyzers to produce high quality hydrogen;Professor Dominika Kusnierz-Krupa and Dr. Malgorzata Hryniewicz (from Cracow University of Technology -Poland) made their talk about a new functions in a historic buildings;Professor Alirza Mamedov (from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture - Ukraine) delivered his talk about historical city analysis;Professor Manoj Stephen Paul and Dr. Ritu Chaturvedi (from St. Johns College - India) made their speech on human health risk assessment associated with consumption of food containing heavy metals;Associate professor Pavel Navitski (from Oral Roberts University – USA) delivered his talk about drift control during field spraying;and Dr. Ulrich Berk (president of the German Association of Homatherapy - Germany) made his keynote speech about agnihotra and homa farming -tools for a sustainable development on planet Earth. List of ICECAE 2021 Committee are available in this pdf.