ABSTRACT
Throughout its history , the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro has been a land of fruitful and active cultural exchange over the entire Mediterranean . Its extraordinary and harmonious symbiosis between the human influence in the natural scenery , along with its numerous and diverse sites and monuments of high cultural value , which have deeply affected other Mediterranean cultures , gained the Bay a place in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites as the Natural and Culturo-Historical region of Kotor in 1979 .
Since the last decade , the entire Bay of Kotor has been going through a very difficult time regarding administration issues , in particular as far as urban planning is concerned . Today , the overexpanded building industry , triggered by huge investments , is threatening to devastate the fragile cultural landscape of the Bay of Kotor . Because of that , UNESCO has expressed a few concerns about uncontrolled urbanisation , demanding that the area be placed on a list of endangered cultural sites .
In this respect , my initial wish was to deal with a topic related to the management and protection of the cultural landscape of my hometown , Prcanj . My thesis investigates and defines the cultural landscape of the Bay of Kotor , providing a sustainable management and integrative approach towards cultural landscape protection . Furthermore , I focus on the case study about upper Prcanj ’ s cultural landscape with its old medieval pathway . The proposals of activation of this abandoned pathway is a new way of exploring the landscape itself , as well as trying to regenerate the abandoned historical monuments it is dotted by .
The aim of this thesis is to point out the uncontrolled urbanisation that is influencing negatively the valuable landscape of the UNESCO Region of Kotor , and to remark that new ways of sustainable development should be introduced to preserve the site ’ s cultural heritage and value for the benefit of its citizens .
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