Towards a resilient Venice

Abstract

At present, almost two years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the detrimental effects that this situation created on economic and social environments of cities are still fresh and far from being over. As these issues had a particular impact on tourism around the world, government and businesses in tourist-driven cities lost their main source of income. Consequently, under these excruciating circumstances, many local entrepreneurs are not able to pay the usual high rents, hence forcing shops, restaurants, and lodging facilities to close their doors. Moreover, in these monofunctional cities, the lack of alternative markets makes finding a different use for real estate properties a difficult task, thus building’s vacancy rates are on the rise. Therefore, this research aims at developing a managerial strategy for the built environment capable of coping with the issues derived from the pandemic, while also providing relief to other intrinsic problems that these cities are facing, such as gentrification and lack of economic diversification, due to overtourism. Accordingly, by studying and analyzing the city of Venice, this research seeks to identify market trends for future scenarios in which plausible solutions can be developed and implemented. Thus, delivering a comprehensive urban strategy and policy recommendations that could help Venice and other local governments to improve their own urban resilience, in hopes for a brighter future.