Linking scenery and users’ perception analysis of Italian beaches (case studies in Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Basilicata regions)

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a scenic assessment of Italian beaches considering both physical and social aspects useful for defining coastal management strategies. Scenic values were calculated for 25 sites along Italian coastline using of a Coastal Scenic Evaluation System (CSES), a fuzzy logic containing 26 physical/human factors. The sites were categorized into five classes from Class I (top grade scenery) to Class V (poor scenery). Furthermore, a survey through questionnaires on Users' Perception (UP) was performed to obtain social assessment of the beaches and to define the beachgoer's characteristics for each scenic class. Five parameters (beach cleanliness, sea-water, beach width, landscape and crowding) were also combined to obtain a scenic and social analysis of the beaches. Three beaches belonged to Class I, e.g. remote or resort areas with a low impact of human activities and high score of natural parameters. Two Class II beaches were located at remote or rural areas having sand beaches, turquoise water and vigorous vegetation together with a low impact of tourist developments. Classes III, IV and V presented a wide distribution and their lower scores were linked to a poor environmental setting. These beaches were generally located in urban localities. Three aspects that were considered by the beach's users as the most important were beach cleanliness, good sea water and high quality of the services. However, UP assessment showed negative judgments on sea-water and landscape especially for Class IV and V beaches. On the other hand, cleanliness, recreational activities and facilities were well-judged for the Class III, IV and V beaches mainly due to the presence of private beach establishments. Scenic and social analysis of the beaches indicated that beach width was the best parameter both for scenic and social assessment; while crowding factor was a contradictory parameter presenting opposite trends of CSES and UP. Beach cleanliness, sea-water and landscape were depended to scenic Class of the beaches, both for CSES and UP. The excellent scenic values were associated to the environmental settings whereas human parameters usually showed low scores especially for urban beaches due to marine litter and the presence of coastal defense structures like groins and breakwaters. Nevertheless, users frequented both beaches with high and low parameters, due to their habitually frequentation and proximity to the beach. Finally, the results indicate that management strategies are also needed to improve the scenic quality and users' judgement of some beach features.