Holiday Houses Research Articles

A heterogenous-source geoinformation system to manage climate-induced modifications on the landscape for sustainable development

Historical landscapes in Italy have been slowly changing over the centuries and this is because their features, once fixed into specific shapes, were perpetuated until new economic and social developments occurred. Yet, in the Alpine region, this territorial organisation underwent sudden changes after World War II (WW II), resulting in a loss in population and traditional agropastoral production in favour of skiing plants and holiday houses. Moreover, the loss of traditional knowledge pertaining to environmental behaviour has resulted in the urbanisation of lands that are vulnerable to extreme events. In turn, this has hindered sustainable urban development. Nowadays, modern mapping technologies enable the state of the landscape to be assessed before, during, and after extreme events, the increased frequency of which may be related to climate change. The case study examined in this paper is the flood that hit Limone Piemonte, Italy, between the 2nd and 3rd October 2020. On that occasion, an aerial survey of the affected areas was carried out using Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) a few weeks after the event. Spatial analyses were also performed based on very high-resolution satellite imagery acquired a few days after the event in order to determine where to plan more detailed three-dimensional (3D) surveys. This has enabled assessments of damages at different map scales to be performed. Thanks to the availability of pre-event multitemporal cartographic reference datasets, it was possible to monitor the historical evolution of the affected areas. It was possible to assess the vulnerable areas before the event, as well as to evaluate the morphological and settlement changes after the disaster. Therefore, one of the goals of this manuscript is to demonstrate that geoinformation systems are among the primary technical tools used to analyse environmental and climatic alterations that impact landscapes. Finally, a 3D model of the affected areas was produced, fulfilling another goal of the research by providing the public administration with a sustainable and innovative tool for territorial and landscape management, in accordance with the 11th pillar of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

Glue and Gumption

Between austerity and excess lies the caravan. This paper looks at a recent project by Auckland designer Katy Wallace. Wallace’s mission was to rethink the interior of that ultimately austere space – the caravan. Firstly, the paper positions Wallace’s project within the historical context of the modern caravan. Secondly, it looks at how Wallace has responded to the dual needs of the contemporary interior and those of confined spaces of an existing caravan. Finally, the paper examines the caravan in the wider context of recent New Zealand holiday location architecture. In a period in which a new breed of holiday houses strives for austerity and seemingly achieves only excess, this paper questions whether the caravan will ever again find a place at the twenty first century beach.

Interpreting the Changing Meaning of the Peri-Urban Holiday House: The Complex and Paradoxical Nature of Housing Financialisation

ABSTRACT In recent studies of housing financialisation, a “financial paradox” has been identified in which owner-occupied houses are simultaneously places of ontological security and financial investment. This paradox influences the way owner-occupiers interpret their primary and holiday houses, particularly if the latter are located in sought after high amenity locations. In this paper, we argue that, faced with rapidly increasing residential property prices, many long-term owners reluctantly reconceptualise their understanding of their holiday house as both a recreational and financial asset. Our study uses in-depth interviews with owners of holiday houses on Waiheke Island, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand to identify how they are interpreting and managing the normalisation of this paradox. The island is historically popular for holiday houses and is currently experiencing substantial property price increases. It is therefore an ideal place to study the complex and paradoxical nature of housing financialisation and thus potential biases in the housing market.

Rural exodus and land use change in northern Morocco: 2000–2020

The implementation of the Urban Development Master Plan, SDAU (Schema Directeur d’Amenagement Urbain) in the Tangier-Tetouan region has marked a radical change in the territorial organization of these provinces: this process that began in 2004 with the construction of the port of Tanger-Med, and the infrastructures to support the port and related industrial areas. This action has meant the change of administrative boundaries as the project progressed. Although the demographic dynamics throughout the Kingdom of Morocco is a process of rural exodus, this migratory pattern is more intense in northern Morocco. The Andalusian Geographical Studies group of the University of Seville, together with Abdelmalek Essaadi University, has investigated the impact of such planning on spatial planning in a framework of international university cooperation since 2002. This article will update previous research based on remote sensing techniques and demographic statistics that analyze the changes that occurred over the last two decades. These changes consist of more than a massive displacement of the rural population toward the large cities and coastal towns. It also means the construction of large infrastructures, holiday houses, and a new pattern of settlement in rural areas. This article aims to describe these changes, as well as the trends in the immediate future, using statistical analysis and the evolution of land uses with GIS and remote sensing tools.

Health in the Military – Military in Good Health: Prestige and Propaganda in the Architecture of Modernist Military Holiday Houses

As a result of wartime operations, many citizens of child-bearing and working age either fell or became disabled, and in the best of cases required treatment due to a worsening of hygienic conditions and malnutrition. According to the Polska Zbrojna magazine from 1933, the health of the Fatherland’s defenders required particular attention. For this reason, in the Second Republic of Poland, the officers’ corps had its own holiday system. Military architecture can largely bring to mind standardised urban layouts of barracks complexes filled with repetitive architecture. However, the architecture of holiday houses, sanatoriums and officers’ homes dedicated to recreation and entertainment (pensioners insisted on the hosting of dancing nights) and health treatment/convalescence is something different altogether. Although the first military holiday home in Cetniewo was built in the manorial style, the so-called White Manor (Biały Dworek), successive buildings were largely designed in the Modernist style, which perfectly fit the relaxed atmosphere and was healthy due to its immanent assumptions: it was equipped with impressive glazing, where the clash of masses caused the appearance of open rooftop terraces, etc. Officers, non-commissioned officers and their families had access to year-round holiday facilities such as the Officers’ Holiday Home in Augustów, seasonal facilities (Officers’ Holiday Complex in Jurata), as well as sanatoriums (Military Sanatorium in Otwock). After sailing and kayaking had become popular among officers, facilities dedicated to specific sports club began to appear, such as the Yacht Club in Zegrze. The design of such facilities was the domain of not only military engineers, but also avant-garde civilian designers, such as Edgar Norwerth, Marian Lalewicz, etc. Recreational homes were not only of recreational and integrative significance, but were also important in propaganda: the Officers’ Recreational Home in Cetniewo was to mark Polish presence on the freshly reclaimed Baltic coast through its modern, avant-garde architecture.

THE INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NESTING STATUS OF THE GREEN TURTLE CHELONIA MYDAS ON YENIYURT BEACH (HATAY) IN THE NORTHEASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, TURKEY

A new nesting site that is not previously designated as a nesting beach was investigated for the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting. The Yeniyurt Beach is bordered by BOTAŞ Port to the south and Secil Holiday Houses to the north. The small water channel in Yeniyurt Public Beach is taken to the reference point of which can be divided as the north, 2600 m long, and the south, 1400 m long. The beach was monitored between 15 June and 15 September in 2019. A total of 182 green turtle emergences occurred, and 85 (46.7%) of them were recorded as nests. The nest density was found as 21.2 clutches yr-1. The temporal distribution of the nests was found to be 52.9%, 45.8% and 1.3% in June, July and August, respectively. Besides, the average nest depth and incubation duration was 71.9cm ±8.2 (n=70) and 52.6 days ±4.4 (n=70), respectively. A total of 7362 eggs were laid in these nests and 6274 (85.2%) of them hatched. The average clutch size and number of empty eggshells were found to be 105.2 ±30.1 (40-199) and 89.6 ±26.4 (35-154), respectively. The average number of hatchlings reaching the sea was 62.8 ±20.8 (70.1%). Yeniyurt beach can be considered as a moderate dense beach (20−99 clutches yr-1; ≥6.5 clutches km-1 yr-1) for green turtle nesting based on previous studies in the Mediterranean.

THE EFFECT OF BUILDING GEOMETRY ON AEOLIAN DEPOSITION AND EROSION PATTERNS: A FIELD EXPERIMENT

Buildings at the beach-dune interface, such as restaurants and (holiday) houses, affect wind-driven sand transport in their surroundings. Hereby they shape the development of the beach-dune system. This can have implications for the flood protection offered by dunes. Therefore, this research aims to understand the effect of buildings at the beach-dune interface on beach-dune morphology. In this contribution we present the results of a field experiment which focused on the effect of building size and geometry on the size and location of the deposition patterns directly around buildings.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/hlcMP7Ev1m0

Measuring non-commercial tourism traffic in Croatia: Challenges of using administrative data

Abstract National statistical authorities are under pressure to provide reliable and readily accessible data with minimum costs and respondent burden. To this end, a use of administrative data, defined as those not primarily collected for statistical purposes, is increasingly encouraged to supplement sample and census surveys. In this paper, a possibility to produce new statistics by combining several sources where at least one is the administrative data is tested. This exercise was applied to measure a volume of tourists (residents and non-residents) staying in non-commercial accommodation facilities in Croatia. Four data sources were analysed: (i) administrative data from eVisitor system, a unique online central information system for tourists registration in Croatia that provides insights into tourist traffic and accommodation capacities (commercial and non-commercial), (ii) Croatian Bureau of Statistics Survey on Tourist Activity of the Croatian population, that provides information on number of domestic trips and nights in commercial and noncommercial accommodation establishments, (iii) Croatian National Bank Survey on foreign visitors in Croatia, that estimates number of foreign tourist nights in Croatia in, both, commercial and non-commercial type of accommodation, and (iv) administrative data from Tax Register on paid taxes on second homes – holiday houses and apartments. The results clearly demonstrated that two survey-based data sources and the administrative one regarding the second homes taxes had not provided a quality foundation to improve the current estimations of tourist traffic in non-commercial accommodation provided by the eVisitor system.

Contemporary hotel architecture in the mountain landscape of the Silesian Beskids

The subject of the article is contemporary the hotel architecture arising in the mountain areas of the Silesian Beskids. This area of southern Poland, located on the border with the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, has been for decades an attractive place for the weekend and holiday recreation for residents of large Polish cities, especially the inhabitants of the Upper Silesian region. In XX century, there was a rapid development of mass tourism. The most touristically developed and prepared to receive mass numbers of holidaymakers are villages located in the northern and central parts of the Silesian Beskids: Ustroń, Wisła, Brenna, Szczyrk. Numerous hotels and guesthouses have been created at the time and also in recent years to service holiday makers coming from big cities. The author presents the main trends in the architecture of the holiday homes built there. The first of these trends is a guest house and hotel architecture referring to the traditional local folk architecture. We come across various forms here: historicism, the neo-natural style, and less often the contemporary interpretation of old forms. The second trend is inter-war, modernist guesthouses. The third trend is large-scale holiday homes from the ‘70s and’ 80s of the 20th century in the style of post-war socmodernism. In addition to these currents, in recent years, numerous facilities have been created in many tourist resorts that do not exhibit regional features, similar to suburban buildings in other regions. Some of them imitate local or foreign patterns. An example of that approach would be holiday houses in the “Alpine” or “Bavarian” style. As an example of searching for contemporary hotel architecture undertaking a dialogue with local construction and mountain landscape, the author presents his own project of the Three Nations Meeting House in the village of Istebna. The mission of the Meeting House was to allow and increase activities aimed at integrating the regions of Central Europe.

Dom wypoczynkowy księży polskich „Maksymówka” w okresie Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej

When Poland regained its independence in 1918, there was a need to launch a fight for the health of polish citizens, mainly the elimination of omnipresent tuberculosis. The state was not able to afford the intensive creation of preventive health care system by building medical infrastructure. In such circumstances, many holiday houses, health houses, and even sanatoriums were built and maintained under voluntary taxation of citizens. Polish priests also participated in this nationwide process by organizing the so-called “Ksiezowki”, holiday houses, where they could rest and improve their health condition. One of these centers was established in 1927 in the village of Maksymowka, in the Eastern Borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, within the Stanislawow deanery of the Lviv Archdiocese.

Poetry, Painting and Change on the Edge of England

AbstractIn this article we discuss our creative research on and with a contested coastal community on one of the UK's last existing plotlands, the humberston Fitties. Plotlands can be briefly defined as places where individuals have historically self‐built holiday houses. This 56‐acre strip of land with 319 chalets is on the Humber estuary and lies close to Cleethorpes, a seaside resort, and Grimsby, a seaport now facing post‐industrial decline. Our cross‐disciplinary collaborative practice between poetry and visual art explores open, environmentally aware engagements and methodologies with landscape and rural place. We investigate the relation of social, environmental and energy politics, looking out to land and sea and back to the community. Our results include original art and poetry presented innovatively together in exhibitions and books, in addition to local people's responses to our methodologies and the work itself.

Innovation in Do-It-Yourself Retail: an Empirical Study on Generation X among Professional Craftsmen and Consumers

IntroductionGenerating competitive advantage by proper differentiation of products and services is probably the greatest challenge for 21st Century firms. Product assortment changes, improvement of manufacturing recipes and product presentation, as well as ongoing innovation probably represent the best way that a company may choose to attract and impress customers, arouse their interest, make them respond favourably to the whole organization and its brands, recommend its products and services to others and return to the store. Innovation encompasses a wide range of facets and meanings, from mere re-thinking of an advertising slogan to substantial change in a product or identification of a new technical solution based on extensive research.A high degree of interaction between the retail service provider and customer increases the latter's capacity to recognize innovation and novelty, which represents a strong motivating factor that drives demand. Supermarkets, specialty stores, discounters and other retailers that enable their own customers to be more innovative will be successful in the face of fierce market competition. Innovation, development of new products and technologies, together with, and for customers represent an important element that each company should include in its corporate culture. Following this course of action, a retailer will be able not only to better its position in the market, but also to create the prerequisites for sustainable development in a knowledge-based society.DIY retailers need to innovate because competition has become increasingly fierce and customer interest in novelty has grown. Through innovation, these retailers not only attract customers by arousing their interest, but also make them return to the store, even if they are not looking for a particular product. Innovation and novelty offer the possibility of enjoying leisure time and fostering a spirit of search and adventure. Through innovation and the products supplied, the customer becomes the DIY retailer's equal partner (Streimikiene, 2014). This calls for a careful investigation into the purchasing and consumption behaviour of the target groups and profile of the average customer. A recent study (Ipsos Research, 2015) revealed that DIY retailers are concerned with promoting their own concept in a way that deep emotion is stirred towards well-known and new products.The concern for expanding the knowledge about consumer behaviour changes in DIY retail is called for by the gap between rapidly advancing technological innovations (including those in DIY retail) and the limited approach to this issue in the literature. With this objective, the research sought to:a) confirm Gen Xs' increased willingness, as compared to that of other generations, to get involved in finding the best innovative solutions compared with other markets (food market, consumer electronics, etc.), adapted to their needs and expectations;b) identify the various forms adopted by the relationship between retailers and service providers (exchange of information and advice, co-participation in conceiving renovation, interior design, repairing, gardening projects, etc.);c) identify how the concept of innovation in Romanian DIY retail is perceived by the four Gen X customer clusters.To identify how Romanian young people perceive innovation in general, and innovation in DIY retail in particular, the authors implemented empirical exploratory research. The data were collected through the survey method using an online questionnaire. The respondents were young people, either single or couples, who were at the start of their family life cycle. These young people were seeking to set up their own household, equip an apartment or a bought, rented, or inherited house, and needed information about building materials and other DIY retail offers. Some owned gardens or holiday houses and were therefore interested in new DIY methods. …

African-Americans, in reverse migration, resettle in Africa

In Prampram, a town just an hour’s drive east of Ghana’s capital Accra, many holiday houses line the shores of the South Atlantic Ocean. One of them belongs to Jerome Thompson. Located only 500 metres from the water, Mr. Thompson’s house is resilient to the effects of the salt and wind. The floors, windows and doors are made of hard wood. His self-designed furniture is made from quality Ghanaian timber and hand-carved by local artisans.

Human residential status and habitat quality affect the likelihood but not the success of lapwing breeding in an urban matrix

Wildlife living in the suburbs faces the challenge of dealing with human presence and yard management (including the occurrence of pets) which vary at the scale of the house block. This study examined the influence of ecological factors (e.g. extent of grass and food availability) and anthropogenic factors (e.g. human activity and garden usage) on breeding site choice and reproductive success of the ground-nesting masked lapwing Vanellus miles on Phillip Island, Australia. Lapwings nested less frequently in residential properties (high levels of human usage) compared with vacant blocks and holiday houses. They were also more likely to breed on properties with high food availability and larger areas of grass. None of these variables influenced clutch size or the probability of eggs hatching, although larger clutches and higher hatching rates tended to be associated with more food. This study shows that, for an urban exploiting species, habitat quality is not homogenous at the scale of the house block, and that human activity is avoided by a species generally considered highly tolerant of people.

Land Use and Land Cover Change in the Coastal Area of Watamu Mida Creek, Kenya

Watamu Mida creek coastal areas, mainly the shoreline, the mangroves and the general environment have been changing due to the impact of land use change, shoreline erosion, human population pressure and the expansion of tourism sector. This research assesses the impact of land use change on mangrove dynamics and shoreline erosion as well as the main driving factors that cause these changes in Watamu Midacreek. This study uses old aerial photographs (1969 and 1989), current high resolution satellite images World view (2010) and ground truthing in combination with information from the local community to analyze the impact of change in land use from 1969-2010. Land use and cover types were visually interpreted, digitized and delineated using aerial photographs of 1969, 1989 and 2010 satellite images in ArcGIS.9.3.1 and ERDAS IMAGINE 2014 software. The results of the land use change between 1969 and 1989 showed a decline of scrub land, miscellaneous coastal vegetation, coastal bush, thicket with trees and mangroves, whereas new types of land use which emerged during this period were town and barren land. The greatest land use change rate observed between 1969 and 1989 was in miscellaneous coastal vegetation at 2.5%, while coastal bush experienced a significant negative change rate of 6.5%. The main land use changes observed between 1989 and 2010 were increasing coastal bush, an expansion of town and urban areas, hotels and private holiday houses. Encroachments into the mangrove forest have been observed both by local people and foreign private holiday house owners. The change in land use had an impact on shoreline changes as well. Areas mainly covered by old trees, and coastal bushes which protected the shoreline from erosion currently have been converted into very big hotels and several private holiday house complexes. The main drivers of land use change were human population growth and policy (through weakness of law enforcement). Policies and regulations which are not currently implemented need to be updated based on the current pressure-state situation, and there should be strong law enforcement and strict regulation to control any unplanned developments along the coast and in the neighboring hinterland.

Shaping zoonosis risk: landscape ecology vs. landscape attractiveness for people, the case of tick-borne encephalitis in Sweden.

BackgroundIn this paper, the hazard and exposure concepts from risk assessment are applied in an innovative approach to understand zoonotic disease risk. Hazard is here related to the landscape ecology determining where the hosts, vectors and pathogens are and, exposure is defined as the attractiveness and accessibility to hazardous areas. Tick-borne encephalitis in Sweden was used as a case study.MethodsThree boosted regression tree models are compared: a hazard model, an exposure model and a global model which combines the two approaches.ResultsThe global model offers the best predictive power and the most accurate modelling. The highest probabilities were found in easy-to-reach places with high landscape diversity, holiday houses, waterbodies and, well-connected forests of oak, birch or pine, with open-area in their ecotones, a complex shape, numerous clear-cuts and, a variation in tree height.ConclusionWhile conditions for access and use of hazardous areas are quite specific to Scandinavia, this study offers promising perspectives to improve our understanding of the distribution of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases in diverse contexts.

Disposable infrastructure including relocatable buildings: Adapting to climate change

In Australia most coastal villages, towns and suburbs started as camping areas, fishing shacks and/or holiday houses, all with basic, self-contained infrastructure. As the intensity of development increased, so did the demand for more conventional “permanent” infrastructure. The assumption behind this evolution was that the properties the infrastructure was servicing were going to exist for a long time into the future. Shoreline recession due to sediment imbalances, but more recently also associated with the likely impacts of climate change, places permanent styled coastal development and infrastructure at risk. The problem of managing such a situation is exacerbated by the still poorly defined climate future and hence the uncertainty as to when the infrastructure, and the development it serves, will be impacted. Given this uncertainty, a novel way of approaching the problem is to accept the potentially temporary nature of the real estate and hence adopt an adaptive philosophy of disposable infrastructure and relocatable buildings. The challenge is to provide an acceptable standard of building and infrastructure in areas that may come under threat in the future, and to facilitate the implementation of progressive withdrawal as shoreline recession occurs. This calls for an innovative approach to infrastructure and building design.

Linkage of "Lakes Zwenkau-Cospuden" as one of the elements of land reclamation after the open-cast mines and its future importance for the development of the region

Linkage of "Lakes Zwenkau-Cospuden" as one of the elements of land reclamation after the open-cast mines and its future importance for the development of the region The open-cast mine "Böhlen", closed in 1921, in 1969 was transformed into "Zwenkau"("Zw") open-cast mine. In the seventies, together with its smaller neighbouring mine "Cospuden"("Cs"), became one of the greatest enterprises of the Central German lignite mining area. In the last centuries Zw and Cs mines had an significant influence on the economic, technical and scientific progress of this region. Although the mines were in separate mining areas, very close relations of proximity existed between them, particularly in the superposition of the lowering ground water areas. Thus, the total mass of the mine tailings "Cospuden" in the mining sector "Zwenkau" was flattened and designed for land reclamation. Since the cessation of lignite mining in the area Böhlen/Zwenkau/Cospuden the south region from Leipzig has been changed fundamentally. The remaining holes, which mines left behind, became lakes. Along the lakes raised beaches, ports and holiday houses. Lusatia and Central German Mining Administration Company (LMBV), which is now responsible for the reclamation and rehabilitation of disused mines, proposed a new perspective of this region, perceived as a part of nature and human-being. The main emphasis has been placed on the development of created lakes, flow-up phase and good water quality assurance. Some of the new lakes are connected together with artificial canals and locks. This also relates to "Zwenkau-Cospuden Lakes" (LMBV 2009). In this article the methods of management former mining areas in the South from Leipzig, with the great accent put on the linkage of "Lakes Zwenkau-Cospuden", are described. Necessary test on the soil samples from this field are explained. Finally, the influence of the restoration of the area on the development of the region is shown.

Private accommodation in tourist destination offer - the case of Dubrovnik

For a long time basic accommodation capacities represented the dominant type of accommodation in tourist offer, while at the same time complementary accommodation capacities were neglected. However, recently there has been a growing interest for complementary, substitute types of tourist accommodation, both in the Republic of Croatia and in Dubrovnik, where since 2000 a significant increase of over night stays has been registered, especially in private accommodation. In this paper rooms, apartments, studio apartments and holiday houses owned by physical entities are referred to as private accommodation. Private accommodation enables tourists to engage in everyday life of local residents, learn about history, tradition and culture of a destination. Thus, a tourist may experience and taste the beauties and attractions of a place, truly enjoy autochthonous products and services, as well as obtain genuine knowledge on authentic attractions and tourist offer of a destination. Inadequate offer of private tourist accommodation has negative influence when forming the overall tourist offer of a destination. Poor quality of accommodation units, unprofessional conduct of holders of tourist accommodation offer towards consumers and lack of interest for the needs and wishes of the consumer of this complementary accommodation have all contributed in creating a bad image on this kind of accommodation in tourist offer. Consequently, this paper aims, by analysing the consumers of private tourist accommodation, to point out the importance of private accommodation in overal tourist offer of a destination, to prove that private accommodation tourist offer attracts an increasing number of tourists, and propose to local tourist administration directives on how to create a more efficient procedure in order to ensure a more efficient and better quality administration of tourist private accommodation offer, aiming to improve the overall tourist offer at a destination.

Implementing Fiscal Decentralization: A Case Study of a Regional Tax Agency in Italy

As a measure to enhance the fiscal autonomy of the region, in 2006 the Regional Government of Sardinia in Italy decided to establish a tax agency for managing regional taxes on holiday houses and boat and aircraft transit. Based on interviews conducted with the tax agency director and staff, this article traces the trajectory and outcome of events included in the implementation of this part of the regional government's fiscal policy. Drawing from this case, this article theorizes the process of implementing fiscal decentralization by addressing the issue of how fiscal policy decisions affect the management of tax agencies in the start‐up stage. Social mechanisms of learning, brokerage, and actor certification provide important linkages between fiscal policy choices and organizational change. On the whole, the research argument made in this article further contributes to institutionalist and processualist research trends in current research on organization studies and public management.