Revitalizing and unlocking the potential of Ljubljana’s subcentres through placemaking to address overtourism in the city centre

There has been a remarkable growth in international tourism in the past decade. In the Republic of Slovenia, tourism has reached a peak of 4.7 million tourists making 3.35 billion euros representing 6.2% of the national GNP (World Data, n.d.). The first stop for most tourists arriving in Slovenia would be the capital, Ljubljana, where they would want to have accommodation closer to the city center to visit its attractions, experience its culture, learn about its history, and try the authentic Slovenian cuisine in one of the city center restaurants. Ljubljana, according to the world population review, is a city of almost 287 thousand inhabitants, and judging by the tourism numbers, the city and its residents are sometimes overwhelmed by the over-tourism of the city in peak seasons. Over-tourism is related not only to crowded destinations on the environmental limits of their capacities but also to conflicts among tourists and residents in the hosting communities (Rangus et al., 2018). This research paper explores the possibility of expanding the tourism footprint beyond the city center through the concept of placemaking designs to relieve the city center from the negative effects of over-tourism and giving Ljubljana more locations that reflect its culture and history while still holding on to the concept of sustainability specifically its social dimension. This objective is met through facing this problem on a macro and a micro scale through diverting the tourists towards newly designed subcenters around Ljubljana spreading the footprint of tourism on a bigger scale than just the city center. This topic is important as it will shed light on the serious challenge of over-tourism threatening small cities taking Ljubljana city as a case study to show how to address the problem, and propose solutions to reduce its effects on the city and its residents so it will benefit the city, its residents, its tourists and the whole country’s social and economic circumstances.