Urban Regeneration through Cultural–Tourism Entrepreneurship Based on Albergo Diffuso Development: The Venac Historic Core in Sombor, Serbia
Abstract
:1. Introduction—Cultural Tourism for Small Shrinking Historic Cities
2. Literature Review—About Albergo Diffuso
- Joint enterprise-like management, with a single member or a society managing hospitality services and related activities;
- Hotel services, including accommodation, meals, room cleaning and local shuttle transfers;
- Residential units distributed across separate, pre-existing buildings located within inhabited historic urban cores;
- Limited distance between residential units and common areas (max. 200 m);
- The presence of a hosting community ensuring the relationship between users and residents;
- The presence of an authentic environment, characterised by the interaction with the local social milieu and culture;
- Recognisability due to a well-defined and homogenous [urban] identity;
- A management process integrated with the territory and its culture.
3. Methods and Material
4. Context: Venac Historic Core in Sombor, Serbia
5. Analysis and Results
5.1. Analysis 1: Active Tourist Entities
5.2. Analysis 2: Urban Plan for Venac
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions
- Since (cultural) tourism has become an important driver of the economy for both Sombor and Venac, it requires a separate analysis and planning measures included in the new plan. The importance of sustainable forms of urban cultural tourism (e.g., Albergo Diffuso) also has to be underlined and elaborated. The aforementioned customised regional rules to establish an Albergo Diffuso in different Italian provinces can be used as a role-model.
- The formally highlighted importance of urban preservation is not sufficient without the introduction of precise and elaborated measures for the revival of historic fabric, urban heritage and traditional ambiences. Special emphasis should be given to the measures addressing a functional level (i.e., appropriate reuse) since this aspect is often neglected in urban plans. The latest planning practices on the reuse of industrial heritage in the region can be utilised for these purposes, as they also rely on sustainable changes in building activity. For example, the transformation of old mills in Čačak and Vršac (Serbia) into new small-format hotels or the reuse of an old silk factory on the Danube waterfront in the centre of the nearby city of Mohacs in Hungary for cultural and hospitality purposes [57].
- The current trend of replacing old buildings with new ones, without strict protection but with a pseudo-historical appearance, is completely unsustainable. Hence, special planning measures bridging cultural tourism, urban regeneration and restoration should be enforced in order to minimise this trend. Some of them could clarify/define suitable types of urban tourism for the existing building typology in Venac, providing further explanations and preferential status. In addition, the plan should include special guidelines for cases under ambiental/urban protection, where street façade and roofs have to be preserved and adjusted to new elements behind them.
- The current plan treats the whole area of Venac rather uniformly. However, certain parts function differently. The new plan has to acknowledge these differences through the development of tourism and spatial thematisation. As Albergo Diffuso includes almost all segments of tourist services, it could be a good pilot project for the revival of the parts that have been economically passive (for ex., the northeastern part of Venac). In contrast, it could be developed into a more thematised form in the already vibrant Western part, with culture and entertainment activities. For instance, it could focus on younger tourists and digital nomads as prospective contributors to tourism along the Danube Route [58];
- Venac is rich in open public space, but many segments are not designed to embrace local identity and authentic ambience. Therefore, the plan has to underline the importance of ambience-tailored urban design and placemaking efforts. This can be an effective tool for the revival of the eastern part, based on the aforementioned concept of “slow city” tourism.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Population Census Year | 1991 | 2002 | 2011 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of inhabitants | 48,993 | 51,471 | 47,623 | 41,814 |
Intercensal change (per year) | / | +0.46% | −0.83% | −1.11% |
Year | 2017 | 2022 | Change |
---|---|---|---|
Number of tourists | 12,335 | 22,296 | +80.8% |
Number of domestic tourists | 8325 | 11,066 | +32.9% |
Number of foreign tourists | 4010 | 11,230 | +180.0% |
Number of tourist nights | 23,760 | 52,342 | +120.3% |
Number of nights—local tourists | 16,036 | 25,600 | +59.4% |
Number of nights—foreign tourists | 7724 | 26,742 | +246.2% |
Average nights per tourist | 1.93 | 2.35 | +22.4% |
No | Condition [55] | Criterion |
---|---|---|
1 | Joint enterprise-like management—a single member or a society managing hospitality services and related activities. | / (Not applicable, as it relates to already existing local Albergo Diffuso) |
2 | Hotel services offer accommodation, meals, room cleaning, local shuttle transfers, etc. | K1: Entities engaged in basic tourist services: accommodation (small hotels, B&Bs, apartments for rent, and guesthouses) and meals (restaurants, taverns, cafeterias, take-out and food delivery services). |
3 | Residential units distributed in separate pre-existing buildings located within inhabited historic urban cores. | K2: Location of the entity in a historic building. |
4 | Limited distance between residential units and common areas, max. 200 m. | K3: The concentration of tourist entities within a diameter of 200 m, including both critical types of tourist services (accommodation and meals) |
5 | The presence of a hosting community ensuring the relationship between users and residents. | / (Fulfilled due to the presence of a permanent population in Venac. It should be noted that many places and buildings are semi-occupied, underused and neglected.) |
6 | The presence of an authentic environment, characterised by the interaction with local social milieu and culture. | K4: The quantification of this criterion is not well-defined. Since an authentic and socially active environment can be represented by a historic urban square, park or pedestrian street, a critical diameter of influence (200 m) is used as indicator. |
7 | Recognisability due to well-defined and homogenous [urban] identity. | / (Fulfilled—Venac has a strong urban identity). |
8 | Management process integrated in the local territory and its culture. | / (Fulfilled by the presence of joint and centralised management: (1) heritage protection by the regional institute, (2) cultural institutions and events by the city authority, and (3) tourism management and development by the city tourist organisation). |
No | Criterion | Explanation from the Plan for Venac Area, Sombor |
---|---|---|
1 | Entities engaged in basic tourist services: accommodation and meals. | Partially fulfilled. In general, the plan supports mixed-use development, where tourism is combined with housing and services. The regulations for mixed-use zones are applicable [56] (p. 24), even at the plot level—e.g., housing + tourism [56] (p. 37). Consequently, the plan supports tourism development, but it does not have specific rules. |
2 | Location of an entity in a historic building. | Partially fulfilled. The protection measures given in the plan focus on building appearance, roof typology (e.g., pitched roof), materialisation and façade aesthetics. The reuse of old buildings has to be in line with permitted activities, including tourism [56]. However, there are no indications on possible reuse. |
3 | The concentration of tourist entities (200 m radius), including both critical types of tourist service. | Unfulfilled. Corresponding elements do not exit in the plan. Tourism development is accepted throughout the whole area covered by the plan, excluding public buildings (e.g., government, schools and cultural institutions). |
4 | Proximity (up to 100 m) to the nearest authentic and socially active environment. | Partially fulfilled. The main contribution of the plan to the Albergo Diffuso development is the proposal for the preservation targeting the entire public space of Venac. Planning regulations and codes for open public spaces focus on streets, squares and pedestrian areas (“pavement zones”), as well as green areas (urban parks and alleys). The regulations consider infrastructural development, while just one paragraph is dedicated to physical interventions (mentioning “pavement, greenery, urban furniture, colours, lightening, artistic elements such as public sculptures, water elements” and the preservation of urban vistas [56] (p. 12). Green areas are considered in one general regulation related to the preservation of autochthonous plant varieties [56] (pp. 12–13). |
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Antonić, B.; Stupar, A.; Kovač, V.; Sovilj, D.; Grujičić, A. Urban Regeneration through Cultural–Tourism Entrepreneurship Based on Albergo Diffuso Development: The Venac Historic Core in Sombor, Serbia. Land 2024, 13, 1379. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091379
Antonić B, Stupar A, Kovač V, Sovilj D, Grujičić A. Urban Regeneration through Cultural–Tourism Entrepreneurship Based on Albergo Diffuso Development: The Venac Historic Core in Sombor, Serbia. Land. 2024; 13(9):1379. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091379
Chicago/Turabian StyleAntonić, Branislav, Aleksandra Stupar, Vladimir Kovač, Danira Sovilj, and Aleksandar Grujičić. 2024. "Urban Regeneration through Cultural–Tourism Entrepreneurship Based on Albergo Diffuso Development: The Venac Historic Core in Sombor, Serbia" Land 13, no. 9: 1379. https://doi.org/10.3390/land13091379