Buikema, S.E.J. (2023) Supporting tourism: improving the spatial aspects of inner city leisure areas The case study of Groningen. Bachelor thesis.
|
Text
Bachelor project final version.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Urban tourism is booming (Eurostat, 2019; IPK International, 2016). Tourist destinations are in competition with each other to attract tourists and the economic benefits that tourism brings along (Sirgy, 2010). A key strategy to improve a destinations’ competitiveness as a tourist destination is to improve the physical aspects of the destination (Sirgy, 2010; Gleaser et al., 2001). Therefore, cities become more and more designed in a way to foster leisure demands, which Hartman (2016) termed: ‘leisuring’. However, there is a lack of clarity about how tourists value the inner city of Groningen in terms of leisure opportunities, what specific spatial leisure aspects draws them into the inner city and how the spatial design of the inner city can be adjusted to support tourism (Houthooft & Otten, 2023). This research therefore focuses on how the spatial aspects of the inner city of Groningen are appreciated, and how the spatial design of leisure areas in the inner city of Groningen can be adapted to support tourism. The central question of the research is: ‘how can the spatial aspects of leisure areas in the inner city of Groningen be improved to support tourism?’. A questionnaire is developed in which tourists score the spatial aspects, as categorized by Jansen-Verbeke (1988), based on the importance of certain physical aspects for a visit to an inner city. Furthermore, the respondents are asked to score the current spatial aspects of the inner city of Groningen based on how they value these aspects. Also, respondents are asked what (if any) other spatial aspects they highly value about the inner city of Groningen and what (if any) other aspects they find lacking in the inner city of Groningen. Other spatial aspects refer to the aspects that are not specifically mentioned in the categorized aspects that can be can scored by the respondents, but are identified by the respondents themselves. The results indicate that the main aspects that should be improved in Groningen are green spaces, arts objects and harbours. The low score of harbours in the inner city of Groningen, which gets the lowest valuation of all aspects, is remarkable since the inner city of Groningen is surrounded by three harbours. The area of the biggest of the three harbours, the Oosterhaven, is analyzed through observation and recommendations are given to improve the spatial design of the area which can foster tourism in the inner city of Groningen. Furthermore, the good atmosphere’ is an aspect that is identified as a ‘new’ aspect that is highly valued about the Groningen city center. The aspect is new in the sense that it does not fit any spatial aspect category that has been derived from the literature review. Recommendations are given to policymakers of the municipality of Groningen on how to improve the spatial design of the Oosterhaven area. From the research, it is recommended to restore the view corridor towards the water, transform parking spaces into a leisure area with lots of green and resting facilities, and to create a promenade to improve walkability. Further research should focus on how the effectiveness of certain spatial adjustments to support tourism can be measured. A more qualitative research design is advisable to get a deeper understanding of the way people experience (changes in their) physical space and how spatial design can further improve the leisure experience of tourists.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Spatial Planning and Design |
| Supervisor: | Roo, G. de |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jul 2023 13:53 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jul 2023 13:53 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4292 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |