IN-PERSON: Prague – Section A

Abstract

The paper presents Spatial-Territorial Planning issues of Tourism and Recreation Cluster of Samtskhe-Javakheti region, one of the most outstanding regions in South of Georgia. This region include 6 protected areas, 14 resorts and 13 resort places; numerous cultural heritage monuments, including cultural landscape; the wide part of the territory is covered by coniferous forests; and is crossed by the highways of international and national significance. The paper aims to define the role of the regional landscape in the spatial-territorial planning process. Despite all above mentioned advantages, Samtskhe-Javakheti region is one of the economically weak regions of Georgia. The main objective is to define spatial planning tools which will contribute to the social, economic, environmental and cultural components of the sustainable development, including intangible cultural heritage as a new approach to protection system of cultural heritage as a whole. Regional landscapes were investigated using methods of cluster analysis, GIS-analysis, defining spatial layers and prospective recreation areas. Based on the previous researches, recommendations for the strategic vision of the regional development from the point of view of the spatial-territorial planning were elaborated. One of the main recommendations is to consider the traditional Meskhetian Know-How of landscape terraced arrangement, used in agriculture and construction, under contemporary conditions. Terraced arrangement method of the landscaping can be defined as intangible heritage monument (Fig.1).
Acknowledgements: The authors express deep gratitude to Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, for the financial support and implementation of PhD grant project Nr. PhDF2016_201 “Development of Tourism and Recreation Cluster in Samtskhe-Javakheti,