Architecture Characterising the Totalitarian Regimes of the 20th Century and Its Economic Potentials: A Conceptual Assessment Framework

Abstract

This conceptual paper stems from the ATRIUM project which aims at establishing the framework for a historically and politically neutral economic exploitation of architecture characterising the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century on one, and creating a sound financial basis for its preservation on the other hand.

We build on the premise that architecture characterising the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century can be accepted as cultural heritage. As a consequence, its economic potentials can be assessed. In the paper we take a closer look at both supply and demand side.

On the supply side, we first discuss the issue of cultural tourism and present the so-called ‘dark tourism’ as its special form. We then list the elements of cultural tourism and show why in some cases cultural tourism can be a growth catalyst while in other cases it fails to perform this function. Given that most of the representative buildings and monuments of the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century can be found in the cities, we then turn our attention to city marketing: its goals and typology, but also illustrative examples from the perspective of the architecture characterising the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century.

On the demand side, we use the a priori approach to identify and profile segments of tourists interested in architecture characterising the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. In the process of profiling we focus on determination of prevailing socio-demographic and economic segment characteristics. This helps us assess their potential for economic exploitation along with their manageability, and thus provides insights into a long-term financial sustainability of the planned cultural route.

Keywords: Cultural tourism, dark tourism, demand, supply, sustainability, tourist segment profiling

JEL Classification: L83