Integration of the big-scale resorts in the peri-urban landscape: greek reality and future challenges

Abstract

The present paper investigates the impacts of big-scale resorts in the peri-urban landscape. The aim of blending the novel development with the existing natural environment is achieved in the case of Costa Navarino in Messinia which has been examined as a case study in the present paper. Costa Navarino constitutes the first completed area of integrated tourism development in Greece. As the all-inclusive tourist product has been gaining ground in the Mediterranean and worldwide for some decades already and has been newly introduced to Greece by the tour operators, a series of challenges are emerging. This phenomenon is new to Greek tourism and it must be approached cautiously as the construction of such tourism developments may affect both negatively and positively both the natural environment and the local communities. The analysis of the tourist accommodation in Greece during the second half of the 20th century shows despite the architects’ intentions, the general image of the majority of such cases overpowers that of their natural surroundings. This reality is associated with the established trend of mass tourism without the existence of a landscape protection agenda. The research verified that the current situation of the Greek landscape attributes to the absence of a legal framework, the inability to enforce control and penalties and the notion, which considers landscape as a commercial resource aiming to achieve easy profitability during the tourism season. With reference to Costa Navarino, the field analysis and the analysis of the primary characteristics of the development revealed the harmonization with the landscape in a quite satisfying level despite it’s the huge scale. Consequently, an essential condition of the harmonization of such developments with the landscape is the integration of the buildings in a larger scale in the area. Based on this observation, an evaluation methodology of the harmonization of the big-scale resorts with the landscape and prediction/avoidance of the impacts is developed aiming at further research.