Evaluating Waterfront Uses for Tourism and Recreation with Acceptance to Changes: The Case of Manado Waterfront Development

Abstract

In the modern era of increased leisure and
recreational activities and increased environmental and
heritage concerns, many of the world’s major waterside cities
have been redeveloped to meet conservation, recreation and
tourism goals. Several attempts to transform the city from a
single economic base to a more diversified one involve
strategies not simply of diversifying its economic potential, but
also of changing the city’s industrial image and replacing it
with a new vibrant one. The key issue in this study is that the
waterfront development is being undertaken to make the city a
pleasant place to visit and to stay, which is attractive not only
to tourists but also for the local residents. Tourism and
recreation are likely to be important functions of waterfront
development and redevelopment. However, waterfront
development is always improved for economic reasons while
massive changes involving land reclamation that changing
coastal environment functions from a demand side became a
priority. The waterfront development in Manado, Indonesia, is
an example of tourism development in a mid-sized city in a less
developed country. This study is aimed to identify common
issues in the development and redevelopment of Manado
waterfront for tourism and recreation and an acceptance to
changes as a consequence of development. The most usual case
in the creation of leisure-related activities in waterfront areas
is that the waterfront provides opportunities not available
elsewhere where leisure activities may flourish and be
enhanced. Perhaps one of the major concerns regarding
waterfront development and redevelopment for coastal cities is
that such developments become very significant and, in fact,
they are the main common attribute of coastal cities. This
study involves questionnaire survey on the field and on-site
observations to provide evidences of waterfront development
in Manado, Indonesia. This study confirms that a close
relationship with discussion of the recreation and tourism
developments has contributed to the changes of the waterfront
environment. One question that needs to be addressed,
however, is whether an increased demand for the urban
waterfront to provide tourism and recreational opportunities
will also continue to increase the range of future benefits to the
environment and the local community within the areas. This
has challenged both private and public sectors and other
involved parties to enhance the role of recreation and tourism
in waterfront development with a serious attention to both the
economy and the environment as well.