Cultural tourism pressure on historic centres: Its impact on public space and intervention strategies for its mitigation. Florence, Italy, as a case study

Abstract

In recent decades, mass cultural tourism has imposed itself on European historic centres’ various economies without planning or a clear direction. Today, it is evident that this specific development within tourism is not sustainable and has generated a series of problems. Public space is a mirror of these transformations – congested, dirtied, polluted and impoverished of its traditional richness of co-presences and plurality of uses, it clearly demonstrates the limitations and problems that plague tourist cities. Following the temporary cessation of travel due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, tourism is now among the economic sectors undergoing a major recovery. This paper first broadly outlines a theoretical framework of overtourism. Then, it presents a case study of Florence, Italy, exploring the possible ways in which to mitigate the impact of tourist flows in the historic centre by designing public space in a sustainable manner that caters to the needs of both tourists and inhabitants.