Over the next year The Fundación Politécnica of Catalonia will offer a new master on the contemporary relation between tourist economy and coastal territories: Intelligent Coast Master Program. It will run from 19th of January until 18th of December 2007. The program - directed by Manuel Gausa, Silvia Banchini and Luis Falcón - aims to develop new qualified coastal systems.
Contents
Master Program will make good use of the experience that Spain and Catalonia have in coastal development and tourism technology to provide participants with a set of well formed tools ready to use in the evaluation and development of the touristic and coastal areas elsewhere in the world. This one-year master's programme is divided into three quarters. In the first quarter, students learn about and analyse the coast and the phenomenon of tourism using advanced digital techniques: geographic information systems (GIS). The second quarter is a cross-disciplinary exploration of various tourist development models, from their political, social and economical indicators to their urban and architectural characteristics. Students analyse not only Mediterranean models but also those of natural competitors in the Caribbean and the Asian Pacific. In the third quarter, students apply the knowledge they have acquired during the programme to a comprehensive project involving a real case study. The programme is designed for tourism professionals, sociologists, economists, engineers, geographers, architects, city planners and professionals from technical government departments. The main aim is to train professional profiles able to offer a service of consulting to public institutions as well as private companies in terms of territorial planning, urban planning and qualitative architecture.
Term | Models of the coast. Cases study
Based on the Harvard/ESADE case study model, participants evaluate Spanish tourism models from transversal parameters - environmental, geographical en urban point of view - compare them with international destinations, and benchmark each case. The main geographical areas considered are the Mediterranean region, the Mexican coast, the Caribbean and the Asian Pacific.
The cases study will be refered to 6 tourist topographies. We call ‘tourist topography’ a model based on the relation between tourist offer as attractor of activities and its effects on the territorial settlement.
In each one of these topogaphies a territory is considered as a resource instead of an abstract portion of land.
1 – Concentration | Urban Model
2 – Vacation center | Resorts
3 - Golf or Marina Real estate | Sprawl phenomenon
4 – Thematic Tourism | Congresses, Events, Museums, Wine...
5 – TICs and Tourism | Low Cost phenomenon
6 – Architectural Accommodation Typologies | Adapting process
24 cases of study will cover the amount of the topographies.
1 – Concentration | Urban Model
Over the last ten years Europe have experienced an accelerated change in terms of mass tourism offer and demand. The future of European leisure is offered by cities as the main concentrations of a wide range of transversal activities. According to data published by Barcelona Town Council in 2005, i.e. the profit of 7.2 millions euros per day in Barcelona is shared by hotel accommodation (45%), restaurant offer (20%), commerce and culture (15%), public transport (5%). The World Tourist Organization talks about the rising number of urban tourists. That happens because the cities keep being destinations with the most varied leisure offer and the most numerous tourist sights.
2 – Vacation center | Resorts
Resorts were created in the '70s as destinations unrelated to their surroundings, nothing more than transit settlements; they are usually located on high-quality spots, with great impact on the environment. They lack transversal activity. Their basic advantage is that the amount to be spent during holidays is known in advance, and the services imitates urban diversity. The all-inclusive offer –mostly sold by an architectural simulacra of exotic experiences - bases its success on tourists' feeling of security about the result of their vacation.
3 - Golf or Marina Real estate | Sprawl phenomenon
Golf course is a tourist activity which is exponentially growing up around the world. Two parameters determine its relation with the environment: an immoderate rise of wasted resources -a golf course of 50 hectares requires the same quantity of water as a town of 4.000 inhabitants - and the urban sprawl of single houses, which use to accompany this model. 80 per cent of golf courses are based on real estate investment.
Gated areas which usually include five-star hotels with luxury services beside a field of single houses are often far from urban population, but impulse the speed of local development.
4 – Thematic Tourism | Congresses, Events, Museums, Wine...
More complementary topographies which profit urban densities are those generated by events and congresses. Congresses are on rise in Europe. Gastronomic and cultural routes, as well as health tourism such as Spas, are tourist activities that create the greatest feeling of landscape and high-quality architecture. French model of visiting prestigious wineries as tourist destinations, i.e., increases the spending to 250 euro per tourist per day as well as the average spending in health tourism.
5 – TICs and Tourism | Low Cost phenomenon
The rise of the Internet in the world of tourism improving search for offers, the creation and quick spreading of low cost airlines, new working hours, and a new time distribution within companies, have greatly changed the world of tourism. In the average, today's tourists are younger (around 30), go on several short trips (from 3 to 5 days), use various services more actively, and demand a diverse and wide array of options. Mostly they tend to fulfil their basic needs - accommodation, food and safety - but also their social ones. Today's desires are linked with social awareness, individual differences, and personal dreams satisfaction.
6 – Architectural Accommodation Typologies | An adapting process
The landscape of tourism has changed since the time when mass tourism was born. After the '50s and the ideal of “garden city”, the family hotel on the beach was drowned in a multitude of apartments and building volumes that originated as isolated dots in nature gradually became massive. The economic crisis of the '70s and the developments of the '80s introduced a banal architecture as a means to sell dreams. The local could be made different, and the experiences on offer widened to attract the customers of the '90s. Tourism changed to cover various demands. Aside from sun and beach, the tourist offer turned to golf, snow, cruises, city tourism, cultural tourism, village tourism and resorts, among other tourism attractions. Tourist accommodations cover a wide range of organization models, from organized to self organized urban systems, from family houses to high-tech skyscrapers or from mono-functional to hybrid typologies.
Call for papers
This call for papers is extended towards researchers, experts and professionals who have been studying the coast and its relations with the tourist phenomenon all around the world. Each paper should be already engaged in research or/and projects connected to one of the 6 tourist topographies listed above.
The case study should refer to real situations.
You are invited to:
1 – select one of the 6 tourist topographies proposed
2 – identify a geographic area where your case of study is located
3 – describe the study in tems of:
SITE CONDITIONS
Environment
(Quality of territorial structure)
Infrastructures
(Train and highways conditions, Proximity to international airports, Proximity to ports and cruisers stations, Connecting level with the big urban centers...)
Political Economic and financial conditions
(Incidence of tourist sector on GDP, Financial conditions for buying and renting land, Services sector structure | quantity and quality, Residential offer | quantity and quality, Presence of powerful local bancs and accessibility to financing...)
Social conditions
(Characteristics of demographic local structure, Level of integration of local population into the tourist sector, Level of reception of immigration, Impact of tourism on social exclusion and/or polarization in the area...)
CASE STUDY CONDITIONS
Resources
Infrastructures and logistic
Political economic and financial conditions
Workers and users
4 – Conclude with the evaluation of the model. The final result will be resumed in a descriptive text, a SWOT analysis and graphic material.
Each study should be able to offer a clear picture on how the tourist topography has adapted itself (or not) to the changes imposed by new tourism conditions.
5 – Describe previous research and projects related to the topic, which you have been involved in.
Format and Deadline
There will be 2 phases with two different format.
FIRST DEADLINE: until the 12nd of January at 12.00 pm
You have to send an abstract proposal max. four A4 in PDF format or on paper:
1-2.A4 | Short description (800 words max) of the project based on 1-2-3 points.
3.A4 | Explanatory images related to the proposal. No text.
4.A4 | Description of previous research and projects related to the topic (point 5). Text and images.
24 papers will be selected and published in a book/magazine.
The 24 proposals selected are invited to full the project:
SECOND DEADLINE: until the 23rd of February at 12.00 pm
You have to send a proposal max 20 A4 in PDF format or on paper.
Each project has the obligation to develop at least the 1-2-3-4 points. Any other information useful to describe the proposal will be included in the 20 pages.
The proposal has to be presented by a text max. 8000 words and images, diagrams, maps.
6 papers will be selected, authors will be invited to present their project in the Master Program Intelligent Coast, over the Second Term, between April and June 2007. For each of the 6 selected authors we provide a flight ticket and 1 night stay in an hotel in Barcelona.
Submissions
by email: info@intelligentcoast.es
by post mail:
Intelligent Coast Directors
Call for Papers
C/ Casanova 81 | 6º-1ª |
08011 Barcelona | Spain
First Deadline: until the 12nd of January at 12.00 pm
Format: max. four A4 – max. 800 words
| later of longer submissions will not be considered |
Ultimately the board will communicate the result on 26th of january
Second Deadline: until the 23rd of February at 12.00 pm
Format: max twenty A4 - max 8000 words
| later of longer submissions will not be considered |
The board will announce the final result on 9th of March