Tourism and the City. The Seaside Development of Cesenatico, 1877-1967

This paper concerns the history of Cesenatico, an ancient port that became a successful resort in the Adriatic coast of the region Emilia-Romagna, and currently a significant study case in the most important Italian seaside district. The paper focuses on the characters of tourism and its changing at the local level, showing the strict and contradictory relationship between tourism and urban development, and recognizing the double ‘essence’ of tourism itself. The history of Cesenatico in fact shows emblematically the coexistence of a ‘conventional’ tourism and ‘social’ one - the first, related to a general demand for leisure and health by the middle class; the second, linked to the aim of protecting childhood against tuberculosis - having both decisive effects on the construction of the city. The paper analyzes the three different phases of the urban development process, strictly related to the main historical events (WW1, fascist regime, WW2) but also to the evolution of the tourist ‘industry’ in Italy: 1. 1877-1918 – A ‘Garden City’ and its sea-bathing platform 2. 1919-1945 – Urban beach vs natural seashore 3. 1946-1967 – The search for a ‘metropolitan’ image Each phase is illustrated by showing the urban planning/design tools, the authors (architects, engineers) and the actors (public, private) involved in the development process, the main architectures and the public spaces related to tourist activities.