Msc Thesis Landscape Architecture and Spati al Planning Luuk van den Berg & Dion Koens Supervisors Dr. I. Ateljevic (SAL) and Dr. Ir. M. Brinkhuijsen (LAR) June 2011

A LANDSCAPE APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE COASTAL TOURISMTHE CASE OF MURTER ISLAND, CROATIA

accommodati onsnatural landscape resources accessibilityatt racti onspublic spacecultural landscape accommodati onsnatural landscape resources accessibilityatt racti onspublic spacecultural landscape

SPATIAL PROBLEMS SPATIAL QUALITIES

APPROACH

THE ISLAND OF MURTERTOURISM DEVELOPMENT ON MURTER ISLANDMurter before tourism (1950) Murter with tourism (2010)

Tourism area life cycle theory by R.W. Butler (dark blue line) linked to tourism development on Murter island (light blue line).

Empirical case in the Mediterranean: the Croati an island of Murter.

Since the sixti es: Fordist tourism desti nati on, with the additi onal problems caused unsustainable development (see spati al problems).

Tourism developments are far from saturati on, and a lot of qualiti es are well preserved. Both municipaliti es on the island want to develop and restructure tourism in a sustainable way, but a coherent, spati al and visual strategy is missing.

Post-Fordist forms of sustainable tourism: soluti ons for the problems on Murter Island

Sustainable tourism development has the opportunity to protect or even strengthen the spati al qualiti es of the tourism landscape.

• The quality of the coastal tourism landscapes in the Mediterranean is in grave danger, because of unsustainable tourism.

• The Mediterranean strategy of the United Nati ons Environmental Programme (2008) consider sustainable development as a vital necessity to meet (tourism) development challenges in the Mediterranean.

• Sustainable tourism development is: “the suitable balance between the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects, which is established to guarantee its long-term sustainability” (UNWTO 2004 in UNEP 2009).

• “How should sustainable tourism landscapes look like? and how do they work?” (Benson and Roe 2007). • Lack between theoreti cal soluti ons and practi cal implementati ons of spati al sustainable soluti ons in tourism

landscapes (research gap).

The landscape approach is used in many fi elds of design (architecture, Urban/regional planning, etcetera) (Koh 2008), but with this thesis we add a new applicati on: a landscape approach to sustainable tourism. This approach will contribute to diminish the research gap.

With this project we have three aims:• Theoreti cal aim: developing a landscape strategy and design principles for sustainable development of

coastal tourism landscapes in the Northern Mediterranean; • Empirical aim: develop a landscape design strategy and design principles which guide new tourism

developments on Murter island from a landscape perspecti ve in a sustainable way;• Methodological aim: develop a methodology to achieve sustainable tourism.

THESIS FRAMEWORK

Poster 1

From twelve aim, described in the Guide for Policy Makers for Making Tourism More Sustainable of the UNEP and the UNWTO (2005), a selecti on is made which functi on as starti ng points for the design phase. The selecti on is based on the contributi on of spati al interventi ons for achieving sustainable tourism.

The starti ng points for the design phase are:

• Use the local landscape for the producti on of renewable resources• Transiti on to green modes of transport• Increase the physical/Social-perceptual carrying capacity• Facilitate ‘new’ modes of tourism (natural, cultural and acti ve tourism)• Make connecti ons between tourist accommodati ons and local faciliti es• Strengthen the landscape identi ty• Use local aestheti cs for new developments• Protecti on of the (agri-) cultural and natural landscape• Hiding the negati ve aspects and show the quality of the landscape• Involve local stakeholders in the design process

STARTING POINTS

TOURISM PROBLEM ANALYSIS

•Environmental land alteration around the villages• Socio-culturalgated accommodations• Economic only three star accommodations• Aestheticneglection of the public space

LANDSCAPE QUALITY ANALYSIS• Natural qualities

• Historic qualities

• Experiential qualities

UNSUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Fordismmass tourismSun, sea sand

RESEACH GAPlack of spatial implications

for sustainable tourism development

STARTING POINTSselection from the guide for policy makers of the

UNEP and WTO

COASTAL LANDSCAPES VS TOURISM

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Post-Fordismflexible, individualexperience

PROBLEMS• Environmentalland alteration, pressure on resouces, habitat degredation• Socio-cultural lack of place identity, gated communities, globalisation of culture• Economic high seasonality, short term profits, one sided tourism offer• Aesthetic non-local materials, standard architecture, low quality of public space

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM APPLICATIONS• Planning & Policies zoning plans, regulations, etc.• Technical solutions sustainable energy, waste treatment• Management participation, visitor managament, staff training, etc.

PART I: THEORETICAL BASIS PART II: MURTER CASE

UNSUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF MURTER

tourism area life cycle of Butler

MURTER AS CASE

Develop a landscape strategy and

design principles for sustainable

development of coastaltourism landscapes.

translations of global problems to local problems

SUST

AIN

ABLE

TOU

RISM

UN

SUST

AIN

ABLE

TOU

RISM

SPATIAL PRINCIPLESLOCAL DESIGNS SCENARIO 3

Lucica Bay

Slanica Bay

Hramina BayGENERAL DESIGN

PRINCIPLESwhich are applicable

on other locations with the same

characteristics and problems as well

SCENARIO 1

tourism sprawl

SCENARIO 2

mass tourism

SCENARIO 3

tourism network

SCENARIO 4

tourism clusters

PART IV: DESIGNPART III: THE FUTURE OF TOURISM ON MURTER

ISLAND

PART 5 CONCLUSION

LOCAL DESIGNS SCENARIO 4

Lucica Bay

Slanica Bay

Hramina Bay

SPATIAL PRINCIPLES

SPATIAL PRINCIPLES

SPATIAL PRINCIPLES

SPATIAL PRINCIPLES

SPATIAL PRINCIPLES

value of landscape architecture for sustainable tourism and the value

of sustainable tourism for landscape architecture

WORKSHOP

selection of the design locations

EVALUATION

Msc Thesis Landscape Architecture and Spati al Planning Luuk van den Berg & Dion Koens Supervisors Dr. I. Ateljevic (SAL) and Dr. Ir. M. Brinkhuijsen (LAR) June 2011

accommodati ons accommodati onslandscape landscaperesources resourcesaccessibility accessibilityatt racti ons att racti onspublic space public space workshop

Sustainable tourism development on Murter island - Workshop Report 9

NEW SUSTAINABLE TOURISM CLUSTERS

56x 17x23%77%

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TOTAL SCORE LIKE DISLIKE

The scenario of sustainable mass-tourism handles the tourism growth in a sustainable way. External investors came in to construct sustainable resorts, in which local culture, nature, architecture is involved into the design. Natural resources are exploited sustainable on a large scale windmill- and solar parks and water catchment installations. In order to keep control the new sustainable developments, conservation and improvement zones for cultural landscape and natural areas will be created. To attract tourists, historical sites and local traditions are exploited by musea and education/visitor centers. The infrastructure will be extended by more sustainable modes of transport and car free zones are created to discourage car use and create space for improvements and greening of the public space.

workshop

Sustainable tourism development on Murter island - Workshop report8

RESTRUCTURED SUSTAINABLE TOURISM NETWORK

61x 9x13%87%

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

1 2 3 1 2 3 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

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TOTAL SCORE LIKE DISLIKE

This scenario focuses on small improvements by local stakeholders which together make the island more sustainable. To connect these initiatives, networks need to be made on different fields. The improvement of a sufficient network (foot- and bike paths) is very important in this scenario because this will make the island more attractive for people who like sports, nature, hiking, local culture and quietness. To make the path network more attractive several local attractions will constructed or improved. Locality is another keyword in this scenario, which means the use of local labour and resources as food, energy, water and materials. Existing accommodations will transformed in green ones by using local materials, green walls/roofs and sustainable resources.

TOURISM NETWORK TOURISM CLUSTERS

SMALL SCALE LOCAL INTERVENTIONS MAJOR MASS SCALE INTERVENTIONS

TWO SCENARIOS OUT OF FOUR• Butler (2006): consolidati on leads to stagnati on and eventually to decline or rejuvenati on; • Agarwal (2002) advise a re-orientati on phase between stagnati on and decline/rejuvenati on;• Murter island already started the re-orientati on phase before stagnati on, for example by our project;

• Many ways of predicti ng the future, we use the scenario method. Two main variables (sustainable versus unsustainable tourism and small scale local investments versus major external investments, see table below). This makes four diff erent scenarios:

• Tourism sprawl: business as usual scenario;• Mass tourism: themed gated resorts, neglecti on of the landscape outside the gates;• Tourism network: connecti ng local att racti ons, resources, and accommodati ons;• Tourism clusters: clustering of sustainable tourism developments to protect the agricultural and natural

landscape.

• Local workshop results: sustainable scenarios were preferred, but no major diff erence between the two sustainable scenarios;

• Design phase: work out both, representi ng a diff erent ti me scale.

BAYS ON MURTER ISLAND

LUCIĆA BAY - NEW TOURISM CLUSTER

HRAMINA BAY - RESTRUCTURING HARBOURFRONT MURTER

SLANICA BAY RESTRUCTURING TOURISM CLUSTER

To implement the sustainable scenarios in detailed designs, three representati ve areas for tourism developments are selected. From the problem analysis we concluded that most of the tourism faciliti es and the entailed problems are concentrated around the bays.

There are three main types of bays on the island: urban bays, tourism bays, and natural bays. Combining this with the bay problem map (right), three representati ve locati ons are facing the most urgent problems, all from a diff erent bay type: Hramina bay, Lučića bay, and Slanica bay. The workshop supported this locati on choice as well, because all of the groups menti oned these locati ons as areas for (re-)development.

These designs are made in two phases which are linked to the scenarios of local, small scale investments and external, large scale investments. Phase one (small scale local investments) is within ten years and the phase two (major external investments) aft er 10 years.

Poster 2

new tourism bay new tourism bayharbour front harbour front

The groups are selecti ng images about landscape or tourism which they prefer for the future of their island

In the second part of the workshop the groups have to sketch their ideas for the future of Murter island

WORKSHOP

Msc Thesis Landscape Architecture and Spati al Planning Luuk van den Berg & Dion Koens Supervisors Dr. I. Ateljevic (SAL) and Dr. Ir. M. Brinkhuijsen (LAR) June 2011

WEST SIDE: OLD HARBOUR

Existi ng situati on

Phase 1 Phase 2

Phase 2

Phase 1

Existi ng situati on

EAST SIDE: NEW BOULEVARD

SPATIAL PRINCIPLES

HRAMINA BAY

DESIGN PHASE 1: TOURISM NETWORK

EXISTING SITUATION: PROBLEMS

Poster 3

• No clear functi on of the eastern part • The spati al connecti on between the sea and the village is lost (backside of the buildings facing the sea)• Lack of green• Dominati on of concrete and asphalt as pavement • Bad accessibility for pedestrians of the western side of the harbourfront• Insuffi cient parking system: dominati on of cars in the public space• Bad maintainance of the buildings (mainly sheds)• Unpleasant micro climate.

Connecti on along the waterfront by bridges (west side) and boulevard (east side). New parking places, pavement of natural stones and adding more green (trees, planters, green walls, and grass)

Constructi on of new buildings and renovati on of existi ng buildings on empty spaces to create a new harbourfront. The backside of the east part of the harbour is transformed into a front.

Phase 1: adding more green (green walls, small trees in planters) and new pavement of local fl ag stones. The west part of the harbourfront is connected by several bridges. In phase 2: one of the sheds is removed to create a small square covered with almond trees for catering purposes. Other sheds are renovated and reconstructed and hosti ng tourism faciliti es such as small bars and shops and apartments.

Phase 1: constructi on of a new boulevard paved with local fl ag stones. A double row of Holm oaks is planted along the road, to protect the boulevard from strong Bora winds. Parking is organized along the road in 90 degrees parking spaces. The ugly backyards are covered with green walls and the empty spaces are decorated with grass. Phase 2: buildings in traditi onal architecture are replacing the green walls and empty spaces.

DESIGN PHASE 2: TOURISM CLUSTER

Accentuate the three diff erent parts of the harbourfront

Fit in starti ng point: strengthen the landscape identi ty

Update and create new landscape based att racti ons

Keep the viewlines from the alleys on the sea intact Use the irregular buidling line in new developments

Fit in starti ng point: hiding the negati ve aspects and show the quality of a place

Fit in starti ng point: facilitate ‘new’ modes of tourism

Fit in starti ng point: strenghten the landscape identi ty

Use of trees, green walls and terrace coverings to create an att racti ve micro climate Make pedestrian route along the waterfront

Create solar panels on roofs and water retenti on basin under square Decrease the dominance of cars by replacing the parking lots outside the centre

Fit in starti ng point: make connecti ons between tourist accommodati ons local faciliti es

Fit in starti ng point: transiti on to green modes of traffi cFit in starti ng point: use the local landscape for the producti on of renewable resources.

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extra green to make the boulevard more att racti ve

new boulevard of local fl ag stones

green walls to mask the mess behind the buildings

90 degree parking along the road

Holm oaks to protect the boulevard from the Bora winds

new pavement of local fl ag stones

extra green and sitti ng opportuniti es

bridges to make the old harbour accessible

restored houses off er oportuniti es to sell local products to tourists

Sheds transformed into catering faciliti es or shops

informati on sign to learn tourists the history of the place

Removal of an old shed and the creati on of a terrace underneath the almond trees

Sheds transformed into catering faciliti es with terraces

infi llment of new buildings instead of sprawl

Small electric vehicles as an att racti on and a green mode of transport

3 4

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The starti ng points are used as basis for the designs. The principles are spati al translati ons of the starti ng points we made in the design for Hramina bay. The following principles are created for this design:

Msc Thesis Landscape Architecture and Spati al Planning Luuk van den Berg & Dion Koens Supervisors Dr. I. Ateljevic (SAL) and Dr. Ir. M. Brinkhuijsen (LAR) June 2011

LUČICA BAY

Existi ng situati on

Phase 1 Phase 2

Phase 2Phase 1

Existi ng situati on

DESIGN PHASE 2: TOURISM CLUSTER

DESIGN PHASE 1: TOURISM NETWORK

EXISTING SITUATION: PROBLEMS

PIER TO ŠKOLJIĆ ISLAND

ENTRANCE SUSTAINABLE RESORT

SPATIAL PRINCIPLES

Poster 4

• Threat of landscape degradati on (pine forest are replacing the olive groves: cultural traditi on is lost)• Dominati on of cars (in the tourist season) direct at the waterfront• The sandy bott oms of the sea are inaccessible because of the rocky coast and the concrete rocks of the pier• No sitti ng opportuniti es for tourists and locals.• Insuffi cient capacity of the path network (bad maintained) • Tourism company wants to develop a tourist resort (risk of landscape degradati on and visual polluti on)

Updati ng the path network, by new pavement and a central square. Constructi on of a parking lot land inwards. Creati ng of landscape based att racti ons: stairs to the waterfront and a watch tower on the island of Školjić.

Phase 1: constructi on of stairs to the sandy bott om of the sea. The stairs consist of local natural stones and are wide, which make them useful for sitti ng and relaxing. Besides the stairs, benches are added so that people can enjoy the scenery. In phase 2 the resort is constructed. The lodges are fi tti ng into the dry stone wall landscape so that the visual polluti on from the pier and the island of Školjić is low.

Phase 1: updati ng of the path network, by dividing pedestrian and car traffi c. The fi rst part of the parking lot is constructed on a terrace and decorated with indigenous trees. Also the street lighti ng is improved by adding solar street lights. In phase 2 the sustainable resort is constructed. The main resort buildings are constructed of local materials. Furthermore the dry stone walls are renovated so that they are accessible for pedestrians.

New sustainable resort, which includes the centre of educati on and human development. This centre can be used for congresses and educati on purposes. The congresses and lectures can also be given in a new constructed amphitheatre. The accommodati ons are divided in a hotel, group faciliti es and lodges and are constructed with local materials and traditi ons. The buildings are shaped into the landscape to prevent visual polluti on The dry stone walls will be restored, by adding new paths on top to access the group faciliti es, lodges and the surrounding landscape.

Decreasing scale of the buildings uphill and positi oning the buildings land inwards

Use the patt ern of the dry stone walls for the positi oning of the buildings

Windscreens of pine trees to protect against the cold Bora wind

Use roofs for solar energy and the amphitheater for water catchment

Landscape based att racti ons connected by an improved path network

Use the dry stone walls for paths to access the buildings

Car accessibility are replaced from the bay to a parking lot land inwards

Connect the paths of the tourism cluster with the existi ng path network

fi t in starti ng point: Hiding the negati ve aspects and show the quality of the landscape

fi t in starti ng point: Strengthen the landscape identi ty

fi t in starti ng point: Use the local landscape for the producti on of renewable resources

fi t in starti ng point: Facilitate ‘new’ modes of tourism

fi t in starti ng point: Protecti on of the (agri-) cultural and natural landscape

fi t in starti ng point: Make connecti ons between tourist accommodati ons and local faciliti es

fi t in starti ng point: Transiti on to green modes of transportrenewable resources

stairs towards the sandy sea bott om

new curved benches beneath the pine trees

stone bench with a wooden deck

central square makes the network more clear

parking lot planted with pine trees

paved road towards the parking lot

the bay is just accessible for pedestrians and cyclists

main buildings in the valley for low visibility

lodges within the parcels of dry stone walls

amphitheatre for outdoor conferences and water catchment

paths over the restored dry stone walls

terrace covers of grape vines

extended parking lot in terraces on the slope of the hill

main buildings built according local design principles

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The starti ng points are used as basis for the designs. The principles are spati al translati ons of the starti ng points we made in the design for Lučica bay. The following principles are created for this design: