Rozwój miejskiej przestrzeni turystycznej opartej na dziedzictwie przemysłowym

Development of urban tourist space based on industrial heritage

Summary: Tourist space is one of the main research fields within the discipline of geography of tourism. As tourism develops quite rapidly in some urban areas, it seems reasonable to delve into the subject of urban tourist space as a field of academic inquiry. However, thus far, only one Polish geographer has ventured into this field of research (Liszewski 1999). The result is a lack of standard scientific terminology and established analytical methods in this field. The same is true of the specialized area of industrial heritage tourism. In Poland, many old industrial plants have been converted into tourist attractions. Despite this fact, very few scientific research studies have been conducted in this growing field of inquiry. This article presents an attempt to try to change the existing tourism research landscape. This work is based on a Ph.D. thesis titled: "Post-industrial areas as new urban tourist spaces". It focuses on the development of consistent terminology (tourist space, urban tourist space, industrial heritage) and analytical methods for future use. Tourist space is "a part of geographical and socio-economic space where tourism phenomena take place" (Warszyńska, Jackowski 1979). Using this definition, it can be stated that urban tourist space is "a part of geographical and socio-economic space in urban areas where tourism phenomena take place". This is a very general definition but it illustrates the nature of the theme of interest quite well. The definition of industrial heritage has been taken from works published by the TICCIH - an organization concerned with this particular type of heritage and its preservation (www.mnactec.com/). It is worth noting that this definition emphasizes the fact that industrial heritage is material in nature. This definition applies only to selected areas that possess some architectural, scientific, social or historic value. It does not restrict industrial heritage to manufacturing facilities. Transportation, social networks, and other types of accompanying infrastructure are part of this heritage as well. Research methods used in the geography of tourism can be divided into fieldwork and theoretical research. In order to deal with the issue of industrial heritage as part of urban tourist space, it is suggested that a combination of these two methods be applied. The following are "classical" methods used in this type of research: 1) search queries in registers of sites, 2) interviews with current managers of post-industrial areas attractive to tourists, 3) polling tourists, and 4) "new" methods such as those suggested by Squire 1994. New methods include analyses of guidebooks, promotional materials, and sightseeing packages offered by travel agencies. A number of different methods were used in the research being presented herein but no new methods were introduced. It seems to be better, perhaps more conservative, to test existing analytical methods with respect to a new scientific discipline such as urban tourist space or industrial heritage tourism, rather than to quickly suggest new methods. A number of existing methods are presented in this paper in order to assess whether they bring consistent analytical results. If this is shown to be true, then they can be used in this new field of inquiry. If not, then new methods may need to be developed. Maciej Kronenberg Instytut Geografii Miast i Turyzmu Uniwersytet Łódzki ul. Kopcińskiego 31 90-142 Łódź e-mail: mkronenberg@geo.uni.lodz.pl

Słowa kluczowe: miejska przestrzeń turystyczna, dziedzictwo przemysłowe, metody badań w turystyce

Słowa kluczowe (w języku angielskim): urban tourist space, industrial heritage, scientific methods in tourism

Prace Geograficzne, 2009, z. 121, s. 191-198.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1644-3586

Pełny tekst (93 KB)