SPATIAL

STRATEGIES
FOR
DESTINATIONS
 9.2 Front stage and backstage

9.3 Development standards

Spatial 9.4 Zoning and districting

Strategies
For 9.5 Purchase of Development Rights
(PDR) agreements
Destinations
9.6 Trade-offs

9.7 Government incentives

 MacCannell (1976) applied the
9.2

concept specifically to tourism in
differentiating between spaces
manipulated and managed to Frontstage
accommodate tourists (the frontstage)
and those where the private, everyday and
lives of the local residents are given
priority (the backstage). Backstage
  Elements of the local culture are
offered to tourists in commodified
form within the frontstage, leaving the
9.2.2 backstage as an area where the
traditional and authentic culture can be
Implication of practiced and preserved beyond the
Sustainability conventional tourist gaze and where
local residents can retreat and
recuperate after their exposure to
tourists in the frontstage.
9.2.3 Flexible and Fixed Carrying
Capacity Assumptions
Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) and
Carrying Capacity (CC)

In recent years, models such as the LAC (limits of acceptable change) have
been proposed as replacements for carrying capacity because of contentions
that the latter is too difficult and subjective to identify.

The LAC, in contrast starts by emphasizing the values that are deemed
worthy of protection and then focuses on ways of providing this protection
(McCool and Moisey, 2001).

These might for example involve visitor education for improvements to

infrastructure so that more visits can be accommodated without
compromising the integrity of the natural environment.
 The level and mode of tourism activity are
maintained below the critical carrying
capacity threshold range of the destination,
regardless of the actual level of tourism
demand.
Fixed
carrying
capacity
This can be described as a supply-side
assumption approach, in that the decision to accept this
assumption of fixed carrying capacities is
based on what the destination is deemed to
be capable of supporting under these
circumstances.
Flexible carrying capacity assumption

This approach is demand driven. However it is important to stress that the visitation or
intensification curve should ideally follow the threshold curve
so that the conditions are already in place to cope with
increased demand at the time that more visitors arrive.
 The assumptions of flexible carrying capacities is
appropriate when:

 a) the area in question is already heavily modified

or urbanized and a weak sustainability approach is
taken

 b) there is confidence in the projected carrying

capacity threshold associated with a given level of
intensification

 c) resources are available to invest in the

appropriate coping mechanisms, and/or

 d) local residents and other stakeholders support

intensification that leads toward SMT (sustainable
mass tourism)
 According to Bosselman et al. (1999),
development of performance standards
are ‘legal restrictions that regulate a
physical or measurable aspect of
development. They are a means by
which a community can mandate that the
physical characteristics of a development 9.3
meet certain standards and also that a
development does not generate certain Development
measureable impacts’.
Standards
 Development standards are then
articulated to provide the legal technical
specifications that allow builders and
renovators to adhere to these norms.
 Development density controls (height
restrictions; beach setbacks)
 Building standards (energy efficiency;
conformity to vernacular architectural
norms)
 Landscaping (site softening) Various Types
Signage and above ground utility controls
of

(telephone poles = buried)
 Noise regulation (sound-muffling landscaping
measure; restrict decibel levels; hours for Development

certain level of noise)
Public access (public tourism development
Standards
areas)
9.3.1 Development density controls
Increased height indicates increased
obtrusiveness in the cultural landscape. Eg.
Height restrictions Many Caribbean destinations have regulations
that restrict the height of beachfront hotel to
three storeys.

Floor area ratio (FAR)

Size and configuration of

Amount of a parcel occupied by buildings as
seen from the air, is a footprint indicator known
as site coverage. Low site coverage means that
building ‘footprint’ the property could retain a large amount of open
space that could be used as a park or for natural
habitat preservation.
The amount of open space that must be
maintained between hotel buildings and the
beach.
Beach setbacks will reduce erosion, pollution
Setbacks and long term financial sustainability of resorts
by reducing damage from storms and high tides.
In urban settings, setbacks are often used as a
buffer zones between buildings and public roads
or sidewalks.
 Building standards that influence the
pursuit of environmentally sustainable
tourism include those related to energy
efficiency, storing and disposing of
liquid wastes in non-polluting way and
reducing glare from light pollution.
9.3.2
Building
 Cultural sustainability is fostered by
standards that require conformity to
standards
vernacular architectural norms and use
complimentary paint colours and
building materials.
  Maintenance of natural contours,
drainage networks and wetlands; the
retention of tree cover or other natural
vegetation on open spaces and
especially on sensitive sites such as
steep slopes and floodplains and
9.3.3 preference for native trees and shrubs
and grasses.
Landscaping
 Such standards typically form the basis
of a neutralization strategy for
selected public and private open areas.
 9.3.4 Signs could facilitate sustainability

Signage by providing information that

fosters appropriate tourist
behaviour.

and above
ground There is a need for standards that
reduce their visual impact through
utility regulations that govern size,
number, colour, shape, location,
content, illumination and height.
controls
 9.3.5 Noise regulation
Aural intrusions into the backstage area can generate community
dissatisfaction with the tourism sector.

Commonly applied to attractions such as theme parks, festivals, concerts

and auto races that generate large volumes of noise.

Others include tourism-related aircraft, snowmobiles, jet skis and tour

buses.

Considerable progress to reduce aircraft -related noise has been made by

federal, state and government. However less progress is evident with
regard to personal vehicles and busses.
 Sustainable development strategies
may require that the public be
effectively denied access to certain
9.3.6 highly sensitive public areas.

Public
However, as private tourism development
access occupies an increasing amount of space within
a destination, it is vital to preserve and
facilitate community access to other strategic
public spaces in order to maintain the goodwill
of residents towards tourism.
 9.4 Zoning and districting

Inskeep (1991) defines zoning as Frontstage : tourism related zoning Backstage : ‘residential’ or ‘industrial’
‘regulations that demarcate specific designations (eg. Accommodation, that preclude or restrict tourism-
areas for different types of land uses recreation or attraction, retail) related land uses and activities.
and the development standards to be
applied within each land use zone’ .
 Zone class Purpose

Special Specific areas or features that deserve special

preservation preservation because they contain or support unique, rare
or endangered features or the best examples of features.

Zoning Wilderness Extensive areas that are good representations of each of

the natural history themes of the park and which will be
maintained in a wilderness state.

System for Natural

environment
Areas that are maintained as natural environments and
which can be sustained with a minimum of low-density
outdoor activities and a minimum of related facilities.

Parks Recreation Limited areas that can accommodate a broad range of

Canada
education , outdoor recreation opportunities and related
facilities in ways that respect the natural landscape and
are safe and convenient.

Park services Towns and visitor centres in certain existing national

parks that contain a concentration of visitor services and
support facilities as well as park administration functions.
  Purchase of development rights or PDR
agreements represent a compromise between
the private property status quo and the

9.5 Purchase of acquisition of that property by government.

Development
 PDR agreements involve the payment of a
negotiated sum to a landowner in exchange
for permanent deed restrictions on the land

Rights (PDR)
uses and activities that are allowed on that
land , which is retained as the private
property of the existing landowner (Wright
and Skaggs, 2002).

agreements  Eg. Rural land retained as natural habitat or

farmland (conservation/agricultural
easements)
 Example: Boulder Country, Colorado
 9.6 Trade-offs

A trade-off is a catch-all term that describes quid pro quo arrangements in

which the mutual interests of the relevant public and private sectors are
advanced through compromise agreements that deviate from the strict
interpretation of existing regulations and other laws.

For example, a developer might be allowed a higher-than allowed density of

construction in one area – the ‘receiving area’ (presumably one that can
cope with this higher density) – in exchange for allowing another parcel –
the ‘sending area’ (presumably an environmentally sensitive site) – to be set
aside as a conservation easement. Formal arrangements of this nature are
known as transfer of development rights (TDR) agreements.
 Destination governments can facilitate
destination sustainability by offering
incentives to individuals, companies
and organizations for adopting green
practices that are not already strictly
required. - “conservation gift” 9.7
Government
 Eg. Barbados Tourism Development
Act of 2002 which allows hotel Incentives
operators to claim a 150 per cent tax
deduction on expenses resulting from
the pursuit of Green Globe 21
Certification.
 Useful links
 https://www.propertyguru.com.my/property-guides/12-gbi-certified-to
wnships-malaysia-23287
 https://www.greenbuildingindex.org/Files/Resources/20170726%20-%
20New%20Tax%20Incentive%20For%20Green%20Buildings%20Se
minar/4.0%20Tax%20Incentives%20For%20Green%20Technology%
20Industry%20-%20MIDA.pdf
 https://www.greenbuildingindex.org/resources/
 https://www.greenbuildingindex.org/Files/Resources/GBI%20Tools/G
BI%20NREB%20Historic%20Building%20Tool%20Final.pdf
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312807708_Transfer_of_De
velopment_Right_TDR_as_a_Tool_in_Heritage_Building_Conservati
on_in_Kuala_Lumpur
 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12008455.pdf
 https
://www.mestecc.gov.my/web/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/9.-Green-T
 Reference
 Weaver, D. (2012). Sustainable Tourism. London:
Routledge
END OF LECTURE