WSSTL 2027 – Interview Series: Prof. Monika Bąk
What does livability mean in places shaped by tourism?
In this short video, Prof. Monika Bąk shares her perspective on livability and encourages us to look beyond cities.
For her, livability is about creating places where people can live well — and mobility plays a key role by shaping access to work, public services, and everyday activities.
She highlights tourism destinations in particular, where residents and visitors often share limited transport infrastructure and public spaces. In these places, the question is not only how many tourists a destination can attract, but whether residents can still move around easily and continue to enjoy living there.
Examples such as South Tyrol and Zermatt show how transport policy can help manage tourism pressure while supporting everyday life for both residents and visitors.
How can mobility help tourism destinations remain livable for the people who live there? Watch the video or read the full transcript to find out.
Read the full transcript of the video here:
Prof. Monika Bąk:
Thank you for inviting me. I’m happy to share my perspective on, uh, livability. I think we usually associate livability with cities, and rightly so. However, I’d like to broaden this, uh, perspective. To me, livability is about creating places, not only cities where people can live. Well, mobility is a key part of that because it shapes how easily people can access work, public services, and in general, everyday activities.
And the second question is which city best embodies the concept of livability? Um, actually, I wouldn’t choose a city at all. I would point to tourism destinations, especially coastal mountain and island regions where residents and visitors share the same limited transport infrastructure and public spaces. And the real question is not simply how many tourists a destination attracts, but whether residents can still move around easily and can still enjoy living there. We all know such places like as Barcelona, Venice or Mallorca, where tourism has created growing tensions between residents and visitors and they are not isolated cases. Uh, but there are also some inspiring examples. South Tyrol in Italy, with its integrated public transport system. Uh, or Zermatt in Switzerland, a car free mountain resort to show how transport policy can help manage tourism pressure and support everyday life for both residents and visitors