MULTIPLE CRITERIA DECISION MAKING ANALYSIS OF THE PORT OF ŠVENTOJI DEVELOPMENT

Port of Šventoji is a maritime facility in the settlement of Šventoji, located within the country Lithuania, near the seaside resort town of Palanga. In this paper five Port of Šventoji development alternatives are overviewed using a multi-criteria decisionmaking (MCDM) method. The results will be compared with the ones found in “Port of Šventoji reconstruction feasibility study” (liet. Šventosios jūrų uosto atstatymo galimybių studija). Criteria weights of the analysed alternatives are determined using the entropy method. Alternative analysis is carried out using the TOPSIS multicriteria method.

‘Noordwijk aan Zee is no more’

From around 1866, Noordwijk aan Zee morphed from a small fishing village into a fashionable seaside resort. Although this transformation was set in train by a local hotelier, it was not fully realized until 1887, thanks to the initiatives of a developer from outside the village. The evolution from fishing village to seaside resort followed the model formulated in 1980 by the geographer R.W. Butler. This model distinguished seven stages: exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, decline and rejuvenation. In the period 1887-1920, Noordwijk aan Zee underwent the stages of involvement and development. Some residents spotted an opportunity to make some money by providing services. The ambience of the village, originally determined by traditional fishermen’s cottages and sheds, changed dramatically. Development extended beyond the existing street plan and the sandy paths lining the sea wall were transformed into boulevards. Among the dunes to the south of the village core, an enclave of villas arose; to the north of the village core, labourers’ cottages. The role played by local architect-builders in the urban and architectural development of the Noordwijk aan Zee resort has received scant attention to date. In most architectural histories of Noordwijk, and of seaside resorts in general, the focus is on established architects. But given that their contribution was usually confined to a single work, their role in the spatial development of fashionable Noordwijk was negligible. It was primarily local builders who shaped the new streetscape. Working to order or on their own account, they were the most prolific builders. They drew their inspiration from the formal idiom of established architects and from the available pattern books. Various local builders ventured into tourism, as managers of summer villas, guesthouses or hotels. In that enterprise, too, they set their stamp on the appearance of the village. The construction boom that characterized the years 1887-1920 also drew builders from outside Noordwijk to settle in the village. Up to that point the local construction world had been dominated by builders’ families that had lived in the village for generations. The old families tended to confine their activities to the historical core, while most of the newcomers built outside the core. The study of local architect-builders in Noordwijk aan Zee sits within the context of Baukultur as formulated in the 2018 Davos Declaration. Local government has shown little interest in the Baukultur of Noordwijk in the period up to 1945. Although the seaside resort escaped major damage during the Second World War, since 1960 Noordwijk aan Zee has undergone large-scale demolition and redevelopment. The current situation is one of attrition; every year, one or two buildings from the town’s heyday as a popular seaside resort disappear forever.

Figueira da Foz as a «site of memory» on the escape route from occupied Europe during the Second World War (1943-1945). Proposal for a historical itinerary

This study presents a proposal for a historical itinerary based on the «sites of memory» resulting from the presence in Figueira da Foz (a coastal city in central Portugal) of refugees from World War II. This seaside resort was one of the places chosen by the Salazar regime to receive refugees on a temporary basis, while they were waiting to embark to other countries or continents. Drawing on historical documentation, literary works and memoirs, this study identifies and maps out the places inhabited and frequented by these refugees during their stay in the city. The aim is to connect the intangible values of European history with the history of the city and its civic culture. By appreciating local heritage, it also seeks to maximize its potential to become a cultural-tourist product, enabling its integration into transnational cultural circuits, within the framework of the European Union’s policy for cross-border regions whose main aim was to free Europe from Nazi power and to break up of occupied Europe.

The Salubrious Air of Bognor

Bognor was built on air. In its early years as a seaside resort, the air, which was its principal attraction, was not simply the health-giving inhalations of convalescent beachgoers. It was also the airiness of the shared spaces of the development; the breadth of the walkways, the expanses between the buildings, the open access to sea views. It was about the distances between people; the reserve maintained by visitors, and the froideur peculiar to the elite society that its founder and developer, the hatter Sir Richard Hotham, was most willing to welcome to his pet speculation. The air of Bognor mingled health with social exclusion and a grandiose sense of space to create a unique and chilly cocktail

Traces of French Culture in Palanga: The Historical Context of Palanga Botanical Park, Personalities, and Memory

The article focuses on the origins of French culture in Palanga, a Lithuanian seaside resort, that go back to the years of the rule of the Tyszkiewicz family. The emphasis is put on Palanga Botanical Park (created before the end of the nineteenth century) as the most significant trace of French culture present in the resort and the seaside region until now. The specific symbols in the park created according to the will of the Counts Tyszkiewicz reflect the actualities of French culture. The importance of this space in the city is revealed, and Édouard François André’s principles of park creation are discussed in a new context. They are related to the dialogue that has been established between the residents of Palanga, the park, its creator, and his granddaughter Florence André since the first years of the independence of Lithuania. In order to give a meaning to Édouard André’s creation and to the relationship between the two countries, the correspondence between the great-granddaughter of the famous French landscape designer and the former director of the park, Antanas Sebeckas, is disclosed. It reflects the endeavour of these two personalities and its value for the international relations in representing French culture to the public. Florence André’s letters to the author of this article are also an important resource as she explains the reasons why the park plays an essential role in Palanga. It is shown how certain personal life events (Florence André’s wedding ceremony in Palanga, the park created by her great-grandfather) have become an inclusive part of the history of the town and represent intercultural relations and exchanges. The article is also based on some memories and narratives of the members of the local community in which the park features as a symbol and tradition of the city.

Seaside Resort Blues

In the interwar period, seaside holidays had become accessible to more people in the United Kingdom than ever before. It was not least the unapologetic hedonism of the working classes that gave places like Blackpool and Scarborough their vibrant energy. However, a notable number of English travelogues in the 1930s depict seaside resorts as overcrowded, vulgar, debilitating, and in fact un-English. During the years in which the UK faced the rising threat of fascism, the seaside became a site where ideas of Englishness, popular culture, and masculinity came under scrutiny. In my paper, I explore these ambivalent constructions of the English seaside resort, from J. B. Priestley’s English Journey to the collection Beside the Seaside, in which women authors, including Yvonne Cloud and Kate O’Brian, celebrate the seaside as a catalyst of female agency. (VR)

Seaside Resort as Entrapment and Escape in British Cinema

British cinema has portrayed seaside resorts throughout its history with much dedication. Films featured both residents and visitors, the providers and the consumers of the seaside experience decade after decade by focusing on the synergies between space and identity. This article explores Brighton Rock (John Boulting, 1948), The Entertainer (Tony Richardson, 1960), The Birthday Party (William Friedkin, 1968), Quadrophenia (Franc Roddam, 1979), Bhaji on the Beach (Gurinder Chadha, 1993), and Last Resort (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2000) as representative examples of how the motifs of escape and entrapment—as manifested in the pursuit of various imaginations, ideals, rites of passage and identity quests—changed through the decades that also saw a gradual decline in the popularity of seaside resorts. The fading reputation and eroding image of resorts is analyzed parallel with the identity crises of characters entrapped in subcultural, diasporic, and migrant environments. (ZsGy)

‘There is nothing there’: Deindustrialization and loss in a coastal town

Based on 52 qualitative interviews with working-class individuals, this paper explores the social and economic decline of a coastal locale referred to as High Town in Teesside in the North East of England. First, the paper outlines how the locality expanded as a popular seaside resort under capitalism’s post-war period. It then assesses how the seaside existed together with industrial work, offering stable employment opportunities, economic security and a sense of community. Next, the article documents the shift to neoliberalism in the 1980s, specifically the decline of High Town’s seaside resort, the deindustrialization process and therefore the 2015 closure of High Town’s steelworks. It explicates how this exacerbated the locale’s economic decline through the loss of industrial work’s ‘job for life’, its diminishing popularity as a coastal area and the further deterioration of the town centre. The paper concludes by suggesting that High Town has lost its raison d’être under neoliberalism and faces difficulties in revival.

Impact of Population Growth in the Central Coastal Zone of Chile: Factors for Estimating Tourism Carrying Capacity Based on the Case Study of One Latin American Seaside Resort

El Quisco is a district and popular seaside resort on the coast of Chile that has suffered the effects of the growing demand for second homes and tourism activities. The district has the fourth highest influx of a floating population in the region, which has had numerous impacts on the district at several levels. The objective of this article is to examine the issue of carrying capacity in Chile and its public management at the local level. To this end, this research developed an exploratory and instrumental case study. Carrying capacity problems were first identified in the existing literature. This information was subsequently complemented with more local information by means of: analysis of territorial planning instruments (TPIs) relating to the district; participative workshops with municipal government stakeholders; and, lastly, confirmation of the problems identified through correlation analysis of available historical data. The main result of this research was the determination of carrying capacity issues in El Quisco. This broadly coincides with indications from the existing literature and TPIs, while factors identified by local stakeholders are territory-specific, giving rise to new measurement variables. It was possible, in turn, to rule out certain carrying capacity issues perceived by the community.