The role of slow design elements in managing tourist flow on the example of Bruges, Belgium.

This paper attempts to rethink the tourist flow from the perspective of urban planning solutions, which have potentials of slowing down tourists and dispersing them more evenly in urban areas. It starts with an overview on current urban tourism trends and challenges and with a cross-disciplinary approach the wider contemporary literature is introduced including citta slow and slow design. The focal point of the analytical part of the paper is the historic city of Bruges and the analysis of its green spaces, land and water related structures that influence tourist mobility. The paper argues that heritage towns like Bruges are not without tools to cope with the tourist 'overflow' and more awareness of tourists' space usage coupled with sound planning might even boost their efficiency to do so. The study also aims to enrich the intellectual debate on slow perspectives and practices in order to help urban destinations manage successfully spatial-temporal crowd movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]