APPLYING NEW DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS IN HISTORICAL CITY CORES IN THE ADRIATIC REGION

Ancient cities in the Adriatic region are facing similar challenges from the transportation (personal mobility) and logistics (city supply) point of view. City cores are usually small, streets are narrow, and the possibilities of the infrastructure do not match the needs of the 21 st century. While urbanization and its effects are undoubtedly everywhere, historical city cores are often unable to meet modern logistics and distribution needs. As a result of urbanization and altered consumer needs, new types of shopping facilities have been developed, usually in decentralized locations, while the largest town and city centers have retained their commercial dominance. These changes have had significant negative competitive effects on all types of smaller traditional centres, especially middle-order centres (small towns, district centres and small market towns), where a ‘spiral of decline’ has been widely evident. Many communities face the prospect of losing their commercial and social focuses. In this paper,we present a case study of a typical small city from the Adriatic coast, which – due to its unique characteristics and location – facing several logistics, social and economic challenges. After introducing the main challenges,our preliminary findings and our research methodology, we propose a logistics solution- namely the FMCG pickup point network - which might enable the city, and other similar cities in the region, to recover itself and provide a smarter city for tourists and investors for many more years to come.