Current Approaches, Solutions and Practices in Conservation of Cultural Heritage

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DOI :10.26650/B/AA9PS34.2024.006.007   IUP :10.26650/B/AA9PS34.2024.006.007    Full Text (PDF)

Historic Centers and Overtourism: Opportunities and Threats for Three Historic European Cities

Despina Dimelli

The past and present co-exist in constant dialogue in historic centers. Such locations do not merely denote a unity of architectural monuments; they also represent a complex layering of meanings connected to their natural environments, geological structures, and metropolitan hinterlands, which combine the familiarity of the old and the notion of progress attached to the new. Tourism could become an important contributor to the economic realization of historic areas because their conservation is contingent on the availability of funds and their cultural heritage must thus first be identified. A delicate balance currently exists between tourism functioning as a support for conservation or becoming the reason for conservation. Today, the facts underlying the conservation-related approaches of historic towns and factors that make tourism a subject of conservation efforts must be readdressed. Historic centers have now become tourism development domains that are often extended beyond their capacities. Overtourism, also defined as excessive advances in tourism damages the long-term conservation of cultural heritage sites. Hence, the social, environmental, and economic consequences of overtourism have become keenly contended issues in recent years. The current chapter focuses on the effects of overtourism on historic areas. It analyzes the historic centers of Barcelona, Venice, and Athens as case studies, examining issues related to overtourism in these areas. Each case study evaluates how overtourism occurred in the relevant site, the factors promoting such excessive development of the tourism industry in these locations, and the new conditions that have reshaped the circumstances of both inhabitants and visitors. The chapter investigates strategies to control overtourism and assesses their effectiveness in achieving historic urban conservation. It analyzes the effects of overtourism on the physical and social structures of historic centers. It further examines the effectiveness of legislative tools to conserve historic areas. Finally, based on the three conducted case studies, the chapter formulates proposals to control overtourism and achieve a balance between conservation and tourism.


Keywords: Overtourism, historic centers, urban conservation, Barcelona, Venice, Athens

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