The tourist and recreation potential of historical cities in North-West Russia

• Published in: Baltic Region
• Main Authors: Hodachek, V. M., Shamakhov, V. A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: RUS 2018
• Subjects: Städtebau; Raumplanung; Landschaftsgestaltung; Sozialwissenschaften; Soziologie; Landscaping and area planning; Social sciences; sociology; anthropology; Raumplanung und Regionalforschung; Freizeitforschung; Freizeitsoziologie; Area Development Planning; Regional Research; Leisure Research; sozioökonomische Entwicklung; Russland; Altstadt; Tourismus; Regionalpolitik; Entwicklungsstrategie; Typologie; Erholung; socioeconomic development; Russia; old section of town; tourism; regional policy; development strategy; typology; recreation; North-West Russia
• Online Access: https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/56340; http://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-56340-3; https://doi.org/10.5922/2079-8555-2017-4-8

In recent years, the development of historical cities has been high on research agenda. This is explained by the growing role of tourism and recreation in socioeconomic development and the persisting problem of the national economy's spatial organisation amidst the absence of a clear-cut regional policy. The authors stress the discrepancy between the distribution of economic activities and the established system of settlement. This is particularly true for many historical cities, whose economic resources have been curtailed. This study provides a rationale for a more efficient use of the tourist and recreational potential to boost the socio-economic development of Russia's historical cities. The article describes problems of the cities' development using the country's North-West as an example. The authors explore factors behind the formation of a new development strategy for historical cities and analyse conditions necessary for the efficient exploitation of the historical cities’ tourism and recreation potential. The findings obtained suggest that strategic areas of tourism and recreation development in Russia's historical cities should be identified depending on city type, development conditions and other relevant factors.