Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

The constant tourist flow to the historic sites brings up the issue of the preservation of architectural monuments.

Baku has hosted an extraordinary general assembly of the International Union of Architects (UIA) within the framework of the architectural forum "Mass Tourism in Historic Cities" organized by UIA and the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan (UAA).

At the meeting, Elbay Gasimzade, Chairman of the UAA Board, noted that the UIA decided to hold an extraordinary assembly in Baku due to the high level of progress of Azerbaijan in this area.

In his words, the purpose of the forum is to discuss the problem of preservation of the historic appearance of cities.

Gasimzade stressed that the forum will also be useful for studying the practice of international tourism in cities such as Baku.

“There are, unfortunately, examples of Venice, Barcelona and other historic cities, where there is a massive uncontrolled tourism, leading to negative consequences. We can do everything to prevent this to happen in Baku,” he stressed.

In turn, UIA President Thomas Vonier highly appreciated the achievements of Azerbaijan in the field of architecture.

Vonier noted that Azerbaijan has achieved significant development in architecture and urban planning, and the capital Baku has become even more beautiful.

He mentioned that significant investments were made in the development of the city, new parks and recreation areas were created. At the same time, attention is paid to preservation of the appearance of historic architectural buildings.

The head of UIA also highly appreciated the results of the implementation of the Baku White City project. He expressed the hope that such events will determine measures to protect the historical heritage of cities in a sustainable tourism environment.

Established in 1948, UIA unites professional associations of architects in 130 countries of the world. Its purpose is to represent the architectural profession and its activities in the framework of international relations.

Mass tourism is the cheapest way of leisure and the most popular form of tourism in which many people visit the same leisure destination at the same time.

The international architecture forum “Mass Tourism in Historic Cities” in Baku discussed ways to solve problems that are possible as a result of mass tourism in historic cities, and a dialogue between architects and authorities has been established to achieve harmony between historic cities and tourists. The forum consisted of five panel discussions.

With the advent of low-cost travel, the tourism industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom. As a result, mass tourism is increasingly characterized as invasive, even destructive, often resulting in demographic shifts, local malcontent, rising prices, the dissipation of small businesses, damage to heritage, and loss of cultural identity.

The forum aimed to address these problems and discuss ways in which architects and other actors can help develop a greater harmony between historic towns and tourists.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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