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In recent years, there has been an increase in international tourist arrivals worldwide. In this respect, Art Cities are among the most favorable tourist destinations, as they exhibit masterpieces of art and architecture in a cultural environment. However, the so-called phenomenon of overtourism has emerged as a significant threat to the residents&rsquo, quality of life, and, consequently, the sustainability of Art Cites. This research aims to develop a management toolkit that assists site managers to control tourism flows in Art Cities and World Heritage Sites and promotes the residents&rsquo, quality of life. The research methodology was developed within the framework of the Atlas Project in 2019. In this project, five European Art Cities, including Florence, Edinburgh, Bordeaux, Porto, and Santiago de Compostela, discussed their common management challenges through the shared learning method. After developing selection criteria, the Atlas&rsquo, partners suggested a total of nine strategies as best practices for managing overtourism in Art Cities in multiple sections of accommodation policies, monitoring tactics, and promotional offerings. The Atlas project was conducted before the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Based on the current data, it is somehow uncertain when and how tourism activities will return to normal. The analysis of the Atlas findings also highlights some neglected dimensions in the current strategies in terms of environmental concerns, climate change impacts, crisis management, and cultural development plans, which require further research to boost the heritage planning process.

In recent years, finding affordable housing has been a notable challenge for the residents of historic cities in Europe. This paper aims to develop a novel vision for improving housing policies in the post-COVID time to moderate the long-lasting issue of affordable housing in historic cities. The research was developed based on the findings of the Atlas World Heritage in 2019. In this project, five European Art Cities, namely Florence, Edinburgh, Bordeaux, Porto, and Santiago de Compostela, discussed their common management challenges through the shared learning method. Focusing on the case study of Florence and using a mixed-method, we collected data through the municipality of Florence, map analysis, and distribution of a questionnaire among the city residents. Then, we used inductive reasoning to explain how reforming housing policies in the post-COVID time could moderate the long-lasting issue of affordable housing in historic cities. The findings suggest that housing policies need to be supported simultaneously at both international and local levels. From the international perspective, associated cultural heritage organizations, like United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and its advisory bodies and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), need to develop restriction policies that manage tourism flows in historic cities like increasing the airline taxation. At the local level, Florence needs decisive housing policies that ban the growth of illegal tourist accommodation in the city. However, the privilege of establishing new hotels can be awarded in suburban or rural areas to support sustainable tourism goals.

Many destinations across the world suffer from the consequences of excessive manmade pressure tied to the explosive growth of tourism, often resulting in a loss of cultural identity and environmental degradation. Cities of art, in particular, contend with the difficult challenge of managing their historic centres while trying to balance the requirements of daily life for their residents and the needs of tourists visiting the main attractions. Local administrators need strategic tools that provide reference guidelines for defining and monitoring specific cautionary thresholds with which to define tourism policies oriented to sustainability. This paper presents a model for analytical measurement of the tourism carrying capacity of historic centres of cities of art consisting of about fifty indicators. The set is accompanied by an analysis of the tourist profile and of the tourist destination system under study, aimed at facilitating the collection of data used to calculate the indicators and their supporting role in decision-making for Destination Management Organisations (DMO) and the public administration. The case study presented is that of the UNESCO World Heritage Historic Centre of Florence for which the analytical model was applied experimentally over the three-year period of 2015–2017. The results of this first implementation show the capacity of the model to assist the city in its definition of a sustainable tourism policy for the historic city centre able to supply a detailed picture of the changing tourism phenomenon and its economic, social, and environmental implications.