%0 Journal Article
%T Cultural tourism pressure on historic centres: Its impact on public space and intervention strategies for its mitigation. Florence, Italy, as a case study
%A Del Bianco, Corinna
%A Montedoro, Laura
%J Housing Environment
%V 2023
%R 10.4467/25438700SM.23.006.17807
%N 42/2023
%P 80-86
%K public space, Florence, overtourism
%@ 1731-2442
%D 2023
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/srodowisko-mieszkaniowe/article/cultural-tourism-pressure-on-historic-centres-its-impact-on-public-space-and-intervention-strategies-for-its-mitigation-florence-italy-as-a-case-study
%X 
	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.