| Abstract |
Sustainable development of urban areas tends to be one of the most important preoccupations for national authorities. Various economical and environmental factors, the technology, the socio-demographical traits of the population, the investments and business types in the area are just a few elements which may influence the development or the decay of a city. For understanding this complex phenomenon, and for modelling the urban growth in terms of citizens' welfare, social, environmental and cultural values preservation, different theories have been built along time. The present paper aims to bring in discussion a nowadays opportunity risen as a result of our advanced digital society - spatial analysis. Thus, by identifying and by measuring economic and behavioural attributes in terms of heritage tourism, by mapping those through GIS instruments, strategic decisions regarding urban development may be taken more correctly and more easily. As a result, this article presents a model of spatial analysis for Baia Mare city in terms of heritage tourism and economic development, outlining directions for urban development optimization. |