Tourism and Urban Change - Private Marina of Licata - Giovanni Mulè

City Tourism & Urban Change

G i oPrivate v a n n i Marina M u l è of Licata D e Giovanni s i g n i n g Mulè Cities

R e s eUniversity a r c h R e p of o r tWestminster | U n i v e r s i t| yDesigning of Westm Cities i n s t e|rMay - A p2020 ril 2020

“To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not to have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything.”

- Johann W. von Goethe

GIOVANNI MULE’ Designing Cities | University of Westminster

HOW THE WORLD BECAME TOURISM FRIENDLY

As the number of humans on Earth keeps growing, and while cities worldwide are getting more and more populated, an increasing momentum is also growing toward city-tourism. (Postma, Albert & Buda, Dorina & Gugerell, Katharina. 2017) There are several reasons behind this new trend, and one of them is certainly represented by the transformative changes taking place in urban areas.

Through the evolution of economic development strategies, during the industrial revolution, cities, because of their convenient geographic position, and access to resources infrastructure, were the barycenter of production and manufacturing for their nation (Alan Fernihough Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke 2014).

Factories occupied large amounts of land where transportation of goods and commerce was thriving.

The remaining land was dedicated to the working class with usually little access to urban public good elements on one hand. Large mansions of the upper classes, with extensive private gardens and leisure facilities footprinted on the other.

With the advancement of technology, automation and literacy levels, national economies started the transition toward knowledge-based structures, and social disparities also started to mitigate. In fact, as the way of working and production changed, entrepreneurial activities, s (more in the western “free” world ) started to sprawl and with it, the basis

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

of what was next going to kickstart the phenomena of ”globalisation” (Timberlake, Michael & Ma, Xiulian. 2008).

In the context of tourism, globalisation is initially described by Theuns (2008) with geographic language, as the trading freedom and wealth creation process between countries in a macro economic level. Globalisation in the tourism sector seems to be a major force in making, changing and driving trends.

However, in the city tourism context, what mainly caused dense urban areas and cities in particular to become attractive for visitors and tourists, has been the shift and replacement from labour-intensive activities (production) to knowledge-based activities, therefore the creation of wealthier classes (consumption) (Timberlake, Michael & Ma, Xiulian.

2008).

With the advent of technological innovation in production, the automated work environment started to replace the old man-handled machines, hence the overall quality of the working class life tended to ►

01

A FOCUS ON CULTURE

R E A L I S AT I O N O F T H E D I G I TA L T W I N W I L L R E Q U I R E C U LT U R A L C H A N G E

new environment.

Today, politicians, businesses, non-profit and all the stake-holders of the city organisations are using culture for the local residents and shopper’s benefit but also as a relevant source of tourism attraction (Clark, 2004).

“Since the Greeks, philosophical writings of all times have abounded with ocular metaphors to the point that knowledge has become analogous with clear vision and light is regarded as the metaphor for truth.” (Juhani Pallasmaa, 2012, Pag 18) The ”visual factor” is another influencing reason why tourists choose to visit cities, as well as for their cultural mix and ultimately to explore the “unknown”, or better the “globalised known” of the daily life of city residents (Adrian Franklin and Mike Crang, 2001). Indeed, along with other variables , the experience between residents' daily life and tourism is almost blurred and in the most mixed city contextes, where public spaces and transports for example are shared, and tourists love to feel part of the busy whole (Theuns 2008).

► to improve. At the same time, today's economy of developing countries, experiences phenomenons comparable to what happened earlier in the western world. Within working and middle class communities.

Growing numbers of families reached a higher purchasing power than the older generations, and started to also “consume” experiences such as travelling and exposure to cultural activities for their first times, exponentially increasing the number of worldwide tourists as a result (Saud Choudhry and Byron Lew, 2013).

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

The relatively easier access to capital and resources make cities, also magnetic places to live and work, for education and leisure; The changing speed and development-dynamics of tourist attractions which in some cases are directly linked to access to capital and investments. This is another reason why successful cities continue to thrive and attract creative and talented individuals (Florida, 2005, Theuns 2008).

There are numerous diversity of services and variables in the delivery, supply & demand and touristic locations hotspot rationales. Attempting to describe the state of general tourism decision making, we should start by realising that ”Every purpose comes with specific tourism demand.”(Pretoria,2008, Page 47) Mainly tourism happens for the accommodation of needs, while the triggering event is the action of travelling away from home. The reasons generally are (Pretoria, 2008) : -

For recreation, holiday or leisure Visiting relatives and friends abroad For professional engagement and business For medical conditions and treatments For religious and pilgrimage reasons Other personal reasons 02

G IOVAN N I M U L E ’ | D es ign in g Cities

No tourist is the same, in fact, age, sex, religious beliefs and personal interests play a major role in destination decision making and their experience thourghout the journey. Cities often feature a great diversity offer for younger tourists who might be more drawn toward entertainment, sporting venues; while on the other hand, older and perhaps more educated, groups, choose it to engage with the cultural and heritage spirit of the city (Hayllar et al 2008).

Arguably this does not apply to city tourism only, but to the form of tourism as an activity it-self. In fact, looking back at the aristocratic travel patterns of the eighteenth century, we can acknowledge the trend by which noblemen travelled from north Europe (especially from Great Britain, France and Germany) to Italy for educational purposes (Bedin 2017).

Those travels, named “grand-tour” had most of the time north-italian cultural destinations, to prepare those “graduates” and future leaders of their country.

It was a cultural adventure throughout the greatest Ancient Roman inspiration, down the peninsula until Naples and later the (more accessible than Greece), Ancient Greek cultural hubspot, yet to be “uncovered”, Sicily.

However, it was only after tenacious “travel writers” with the likes of Brydone, Riedesel and finally Goethe that Sicily became a well-known travel destination, famous for their unspoiled landscapes, archeological and architectural beauty (Bedin 2017).

THE CASE OF THE FIDELISSIMA: LICATA

Licata is a 40.000 circa inhabitant city nestled on the center-south coast of Sicily, it’s found between Agrigento and Gela, other two important ancient Greekly founded cities. In fact, the former is the host of one of the most well preserved Ancient Greek Temple Unesco sites and the latter being the ancient founder of the former, was one of the most powerful polis of the mediterrean during the 6th and 7th century B.c.

Today, Agrigento is a cultural center attracting millions of visitors in their archaeological sites while Gela became a chemical industry driven city.

Licata was historically not left untouched by the numerous domination changes occured in Sicily throughout history. It was initially founded by Agrigento, as an opponent to Gela; it was later ruled

by Arabs; accounted as Città Demaniale (“Crown’s City”) during the Normans with Federico II of Svevia and then Fidelissima (“Most Faithful”) during the Aragonese, just to mention some.

Thanks to its historical blend, natural harbor and vast flat land, architectural and cultural elements, Licata is a flourish center for fishing, agriculture and tourism. It has experienced main landscape transformations. In particular in the ‘Giummarella’ area, where once resided a white sand beach just about 15 minute walk from the city centre. Now resides ‘Marina Cala del Sole’, a private marina that attracts numerous boaters from around the world, and especially north Europe.

It is regarded as a luxurious facility, high ranked (five anchor) private marina, which initially planned to attract Yachts, but later became a tourism and leisure attraction for boaters and sailors; but more importantly as we will see later, a community hubspot of boaters who live in their boats anchored in the marina during the winter.

The Marina Cala Del Sole complex is equipped with a shopping mall within the redevelopment boundaries, which was at the center of a controversial public debate between local stakeholders, whether it was actually generating benefits for the area or not.

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

03

G I O VAN N I M U L E ’ | Des ign in g Cities

Small and independent local businesses largely claimed that after the creation of this shopping mall caused the loss of numerous local clientele crowds around the city centre and even the closure of historic shops. This has never been confirmed and on the other hand, during an interview with a sailing couple, who mentioned that Marina of Licata was largely chosen by boaters because of its proximity with the city center and for the easy accessibility of primary resources like quality food and more, without the need to use a car.

The challenges for this touristic port continued as the Marina’s private company who invested and built it (as well as a director of urban planning from the office of Licata) have been in the midst of legal controversies as they were accused of fraud. The reasons behind are the uncertainties, the private investors “so far legally” got away without paying demanial fees to the local authorities for the use of the land, securing a 99 years lease, for free. Meanwhile, the marina continued to be built and operated, but with a smaller number of housing (private and designed for upper markets) than previously planned, at least so far.

Whether the company had to pay 7 millions for the use of the land or it already created that amount of value through public good benefit, seems to not matter to either the locals who enjoy walking the space, nor the boaters who enjoy the facilities.

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

It once was defined “a city inside the city” (la vedetta 2010) for its private housing and shopping center by a public council member skeptical of the proposed redevelopment. What is most evident is the boundaries of the complex, which are “loud and clear” between the area of the site and the surrounding zones. Apart from the shopping center ( largely used by local residents), for its distinguished geographic area designed for a concentration of tourism-related activities, we could define it as a tourism bubble, especially from a visual and urban perception perspective (Hayllar and Griffin 2009).

The most modern and revitalised area of Marina Cala del Sole extends for 515.000 sq meters on the oriental dock of Licata, with two extended arms, it can host 394 boats up to 70 mt. It is only ten minutes walking time from the historic city center where museums, churches and baroque architecture is nestled. Inside the site, the public and private areas difference are only intuitively directionated and not clearly marked or officialised. Some of the evident markers of the differences are in the preservation and cleaning of the streets and green infrastructure, which is more accurate within the site boundaries and especially in the private only accessible spaces.

I will however let the description of the area “off the fence” be described by the words of a tourist to avoid conflict of interest, being myself born in the town. The boaters, today seem to be the most ► 04

G I O VAN N I M U L E ’ | Des ign in g Cities

► excited, engaged and educated tourists of Licata, setting the ground for future potentially profiquos tourism-growth-driven set of researches (Rizzo, I. & Cuccia, Tiziana 2011). The following are some quotes extracted from a blogpost (1) I came across while researching opinions on the overall experience of Licata from a tourist perspective and especially from a boater’s one, in this case not subject to approval biases. ' “There is quite a community of 'liveaboard' sailors here, many from the UK, but also from the rest of Europe, and a few from the USA, New Zealand and Australia. For many their yacht is their only home so there is a real community feel here.”

“There are also some fairly splendid buildings. [...]

Elaborate sculpture is not restricted to the Churches - Licata has a good selection of Gargoyles. [...]

There is a vast amount of gold leaf and some very elaborate wood carving. [...] The roads themselves are interesting!” “[..] it all provides excellent cycling opportunities! [...] Even the cement factory in the middle of the harbour looks good at sunset.”

“Needless to say, the fruit and veg here are excellent.”

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

This qualitative, subjective and impartial data is not enough evidence to empirically make statements on the state-of-art of Licata’s touristy perception, however without access to quantitative data, it states that the boaters are enjoying and critically observing the territory outside the Marina. With its different looks, this new waterfront is just integrated enough to the surroundings due to its proximity. However, even with its despairing service differences, it allows the strategic integration to hold and deliver enormous value to the local businesses and the tourists, both economically, socially and culturally.

There are indeed all the precedents and features for Licata to be a growing and more attractive touristic city. Especially looking at the survey carried out by DOXA Mercury and Touring Club Italiana we can compare the identified attractive factors of Sicily on a national scale, which ranked as follows, and Licata’s features: • second for its sea and the beauty of its coasts; In Licata there are 20 Km of coasts with untouched rock and shingle areas with pristine water as well as extensive free and serviced golden coastal areas.

• third for its cuisine and wines; In Licata there are two main chefs (one of them, Pino Cuttaia with a two star Michelin restaurant) who settled in the city centre for the quality and variety of ingredients like seafood and vegetables.

05

G I O VAN N I M U L E ’ | Des ign in g Cities

• first in terms of the welcoming nature, culture and charm of its inhabitants; In Licata there are large camping and hiking areas protected by environmental authorities for their beauty. It has prehistoric settlements and archeological relevant sites both in the city centre and the outskirts.

• third for its local lifestyle; In Licata there is a warm and welcoming attitude toward tourists, large communities of artists and artisans. Most testimonials of this cooperative and unique local lifestyle can be found and described by boaters in blogs, interviews and more.

• fourth for the affordability of a vacation; Statista places Licata as the third cheapest tourist destination in Italy during 2017.

Arguably matching all the expected criteria of tourist in Sicily, with its cultural patrimony and modern marina, Licata could be a magnetic town for seasoned tourism, but unfortunately that’s not the case, yet.

RESOLUTIONS FOR GROWTH

The replacement of a public beach with a modern marina, could be defined and explained with the identifying framework set by Iovino (2017), describing the two different (and radical) modalities of waterfront redevelopment. Whereas on one side there is a market oriented model and the counterpart territorial mode. In her framework she provides the tools to evaluate the transparency of the planning processes as well as the final outcomes, and with a quick evaluation, the new Marina shows features of both models, which can only be fully explored in another paper.

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

Only after the completion of the redevelopment and the first touristic results, this phenomena caught the attention of the local authorities, entrepreneurs and organisations , who started realising the importance of a more deseasonalized tourism in the area, as well as the need to maximise those facilities’ benefits. In turn, with considerate actions and strategies, this large real estate regenerative project, could positively transform the economy of the whole city. Unfortunately there is no empirical either systematic access to information and analytics digital infrastructure with precise levels of tourism consumption or demographics.

However, Ilaria Coppolino, a graduate from University of Palermo, surveyed thirtythree B&Bs operating in the city center (therefore outside the waterfront area) for her thesis, and so far identified five macro clusters of tourists present in the receptive structures she surveyed.

-Italian tourists over 50 yo : travelling for pleasure and tranquillity, as well as enogastronomic and nature based activities.

-Italian families with at least a under 18 yo child : travelling to enjoy mobility and leisure with their children, generally looking for accessible services.

-Business travellers between 31 and 50 yo : travelling for just a few days, looking for restaurants and mobility autonomy and as well as productivity services like wifi.

-European travellers between 18 and 51 yo: young travellers easily impressed by the beauty of the new experiences usually on a budget.

-Extra-european travellers: representing a niche that requires specific strategies to better study their behavior

05

G I O VAN N I M U L E ’ | Des ign in g Cities

S - Strengths : A great strength in my opinion, simplifying a little the concept by which the series of elements the Island has over the national statistics, is that Licata matches the criteria of attributes of Sicily overall as explored earlier, finally filling the expectations of tourists.

Another is certainly the quality of the spaces at Marina Cala Del Sole, which has international exposure and credibility now, as well as for the strategic geographic position, being just 25 minutes drive from the Unesco site “Temple’s Valley” of Agrigento. The third strength is the accessibility to cultural, community based and enogastronomy quality experiences, with a great diversity of landscapes with forestry, flat land and beaches.

W - Weaknesses : The main weakness that emerges is the lack of data monitoring, analytical and systematic processes in the planning, governance and touristic business activities.

Another weakness is certainly the incoherence in branding and marketing strategies from the public authorities, which did not invest at all in any of the modern and up-to-date strategies.

Leading to the third weakness which is the loose governance and education that often takes place in the overall leadership of the city, leading to lack of services quality (see cleaning and landscape preserving, to mention one) which can be linked to low level of knowledge of best practices both nationally and internationally.

O - Opportunities : The opportunities certainly are related to the economic development that sustainable, monitored tourism flows and touristic activities could bring more in the city. With the leverage of the waterfront development and the experience testimonials of boaters the digital strategies to attract more tourism could be placed productively.

The other opportunity is certainly presented for generating and developing the conditions by which all the stakeholders finally work together with the necessary training and knowledge, and common vision to create snowball effects on businesses to deseasonalize constant tourism and longer term benefits. The proximity with a Unesco site visited by almost a million visitors in 2018, places reflects another opportunity to learn from the province capital and capture a fair share of these visitors, with alternative and unique territorial experiences.

T - Threats : The major threats that the touristic port and the city risks to encounter are the possibility of being left “off the radar” by these 15 million turists arriving every year in Sicily, missing the great opportunity to set a new strongly rooted ground for the further development of economic activities.

Which takes us to the second threat of not innovating and speeding up their governance structure might simply facilitate the continuum decay of local historic and cultural patrimony, representing valuable urban assets unexploited.

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

06

Governance and Training

R E A L I S AT I O N O F T H E D I G I TA L T W I N W I L L R E Q U I R E C U LT U R A L C H A N G E

new environment.

It is strongly advised that leadership positions, especially in the urban planning, economic development and tourism/culture offices are covered by individuals (and a culture) who understand the current trends in technology, communication, tourism, business and of course policy. The reasons are related to the necessity of creating new systematic internal policies creation processes that resonate with the public transparently and at the same time able to plan the territory. The goal is to create initiatives that reflect quantified values and are able to monitor, with proper data structures, long term projects that will benefit the many while attracting and retaining tourism.

Innovation Friendly Policies

digital technologies.30

After a restructure and digitalisation of processes with a focus on economic growth, public authorities should start to generate policies that stimulate, train and facilitate entrepreneurial activities in the area.

With an open data platform for example focused on the analytics generated by tourism-related activities within the urbanised context, the businesses and the tourist themselves, setting the ground for transparent case building and let investors and entrepreneurs choose the city of Licata for open innovation and investments initiatives. This will contribute to the overall economic development of the area and therefore, if properly directed, potentially generate ideas and set up companies that will enhance the experience of tourists and tourism related activities.

Branding and Marketing Strategies

FIGURE 5

Opposite left

With a smart and systematically modern governance structure, allowing transparent decision making processes, with quantifiable benefits, innovation and improvement of tourism activities and services can take place sustainably and profitably for both the private and public sector. What is really recommended at this point is to finally, delegate or work with local and international experts in the digital marketing sector and create proper branding and marketing campaigns. With strong ethics and up to date skills city leaders and consultants can, along with strategic partnerships and, make sure to avoid the above mentioned threats, leveraging on the current strengths, mitigating the weaknesses and maximising the opportunities.

The three major advancements that have enabled the digital twin

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

07

G I OVAN N I M U L E ’ | D es ign in g Cities

CONCLUSION

We briefly mentioned the consumption trends and theories behind city tourism and its precedents in the evolution of macroeconomics and globalisation, drafting a link between the grand tours and todays’ cultural travel patterns. With contextualised history and relevant information we introduced the city of Licata and more importantly its private marina, describing the role as a tourist precinct for the entire urban area. Finally we practically extended the topic of challenges and opportunities of tourism and urban economy related activities with a SWOT analysis that allowed us to emerge some of the main actions required to improve and expand the policies, governance and strategies for transparency and growth.

REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY

(1). http://sprigs-on-tour2.blogspot.com/2013/11/winter-in-licata-marina-di-cala-del.html Adrian Franklin and Mike Crang, 2001, the trouble with tourism and travel theory?, Editorial, Sage Publications

La Vedetta - 4 Nov 2010 - Printed Journalhttps://www.yumpu.com/it/document/read/14942861/a-licata-scoppia-il-disagio-sociale-la-vedetta-online Juhani Pallasmaa, 2012, The eyes of the skin, John Wiley and Sons, Pag 18, Paragraph 2.

Alan Fernihough Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke, 2014, Coal and the european industrial revolution, National Bureau of Economic Research.

Postma, Albert & Buda, Dorina & Gugerell, Katharina. 2017, The Future of City Tourism. Journal of Tourism Futures. 3. 10.1108/JTF-09-2017-067.

Bedin 2017, The Neoclassical Grand Tour of Sicily and Goethe’s Italienische Reise https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/1CD58DF90A/1F3B195B7FFD47E09B15F264 7D9752B9?doi=

Saud Choudhry and Byron Lew, 2013, the Growth of a New Middle Class and the Expansion of World Tourism, Trent University

Florida R., 2005, Cities and the Creative Class, Routledge, New York.

(Hayllar and Griffin 2009). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226806932_Urban_Tourist_Precincts_as_Sites_of_Play Hayllar, B., Griffin. T. & Edwards, D. (eds.) (2008) City Spaces: Tourist Places. Oxford: Elsevier.

Heldke, L. ,2005, But is it authentic? Culinary travel and the search for the ‘genuine article’. In: Korsmeyer, C. (ed.) The Taste Culture Reader: Experiencing Food and Drink. Berg, Oxford, pp. 385–394.

Il giornale dell’arte https://www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/articoli/quasi-un-milione-di-visitatori-alla-valle-dei-templi-di-agrigento/1

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

Statista 2020, Venice:tourism number https://www.statista.com/statistics/732572/international-tourist-arrivals-in-venice-italy/ Theuns H.L. , 2008, Globalization and Tourism: Pros and Cons, Tourism Recreation Research (Lucknow) Timberlake, Michael & Ma, Xiulian. , 2008. Cities and Globalization. 10.1002/9780470691939.ch12.

University of Pretoria PHD 2008 https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/24684/02chapters3-4.pdf?sequence=3 All rights reserved to the respective authors Cover Front: Engligh Travelers, C. Ludwig Schubart 1857/1859 Cover Back: Balcony Room with a View of the Bay of Naples ,Carl Gustav Carusaround 1829/1830

08

G IOVAN N I M U L E ’ | D es ign in g Cities

CONTACTS

Email: info@giovannimule.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Giovanni Mulè is a final year “Designing Cities” student at University of Westminster in London. He is very passionate about technology and its applications in urban innovation and global contextet.

He has polyedric interests, from communication to design and again technology and business. Running a digital media agency and mentoring aspirant startuppers leaded him to an exciting and formative entrepreneurial journey.

In the future Giovanni aims to combine his design skills and passions with the purpose of driving innovation in the planning industry forward. With a continous hunger for knowledge about the latest disruptive technologies to feed his foresight mind.

City Tourism & Urban Change Private Marina of Licata

09