MESTO ZA HRADBAMI - identita verzus imidž
Medzinárodná konferencia historických miest Európy
PLASENCIA, Spain
41 000 inhabitants
In pre foundation period it was know as Ambracia (roman period)
Brief general information on Plasencia :
3 key points that provide the city with its characteristic atmosphere :
- Alive Inner Town
- Comerce and economical activities in the Inner Town
(including public Administrations and services)
- Out-living atmosphere
Icon of the city:
(most important eye-catching or famous aspect of the city) :
- Mayorga Grandfather (for tourists) - it´s an atraction for visitors
- Cathedrals (for several years in the promotion of the town) -
architecturally important at national level
- Walls since now and for the coming years -
it´s not well known, but it´s the pilar of the new local Strategy
3-5 advantages of the city: the soft cultural potentials or values
e.g. rituals, people’s habits, art, sports, importance in historical politics
(capital or not? Regional function?) etc.
- Social life (out living):
we use to have lot of time outside (bars, streets, gardens, etc), not at home.
Maybe due to muslim influence??? It has become part of our lifestyle.
- The Inner Town
is alive, has got a lot of activities, people live there, like living there, and are
proud of it. It´s a tradition and it´s increasing.
- A lot of Cultural events are celebrated in squares, streets, etc
(concerts, theatre, medieval markets, etc)
- Lot of commerce activities. Due to the location in the Region it´s a centre
of commerce and services. It was always so, since the foundation 8
centuries ago and the stores and even today different commercial
enterprises are rising in number and quality.
- The proudness of the people about their town.
We can also assert there´s a bit of Chovinism.
3-5 advantages of the city : the hard cultural potentials or values
e.g. cultural heritage, fortress elements that are left (see ‘Fortress
as a Corset’), important old buildings,
- Lots of buildings and and outside places (squares, etc) to be recuperated
(and being recuperated) For some time they were abbandoned - we hope
one day we will have almost all heritage and places recuperated
(and just to conserve).
- Cathedrals (two)
- The Wall itself
For some period it´s been damaged with housings, we are begining
the project for not to be so
- Enviroment sourrounding the town (
(Biosphere reserve, natural reserves, etc)
- The river (you can swim in clean water almost in the center if the town)
Iit´s a part of the town, for future it´s dificult to know what happens, as
the water is being contamined day after day everywhere in the world
3-5 disadvantages of the city, when talking about soft potentials
or values (people and their habits) :
- Lack of implication of the private companies - we´re working on it to
change
- Level of exigence of the citizens
- Lack of implication/participation of the citizens in the actions developed
for the global benefit
- Lack of knowledge about our own history, which means:
- Lack of interest for the heritage. People is just interested in the damage
and the political complainings
(Now it is changing, we are working on increasing the level of interest.)
3-5 disadvantages of the city, when talking about the hard potentials
or values (buildings, urban tissue, artworks, traffic, etc.)
- Degradation/Damage of the walls in some periods of time (in a period of
more or less 1 cent.) Now everything´s changed.
- A bad Urban planning in some periods of last century – for about 50 years.
Now it is not perfect, but neither bad.
- Heavy trafic and lack of parking places vs. custom of people using the cars
(cars or all movements, and one person per car). This is new all arround
the world since 50 years ago m/l, It´s dificult to resolve, it´s a mind´s
problem, a problem of sensibilization.
- Outside Fachade Label/advertisings in the stores. It´s changing and we
are working on.
City strategies regarding identity / image of the city:
Which are the strategies of the local government to increase the city’s identity :
(building a positive relationship of the citizens to their city, making people aware
of the advantages and disadvantages)
1. With the problem of the outside fachade labels, we have tried the enterprises to adapt to the local urbanism rules, but through the sesibilization, so that they adapt that label to the local image of the inner town.
Way to improve : Straight intervention of the Local Government and sensibilization
2. There has been a historical bad perception of our town in the villages and counties arround. This didn´t permit us to generate Scale Economies or have a bigger promotion of our town (consider we are a small town of 40000 inhabitants. So we prepared a Project in which all that villages and counties where invloved, and where Plasencia was the main suporter, even the benefits were more for the rest areas. This also permited us to get European Funds for projects like the “System of Tourism Quality at Destiantion” (explained leter) or some others focused on Tourism, agriculture, etc Now we have a global touristical destination and work together in other several things.
Way to improve : Increase the co-operation
Has your local government ever developed strategies to increase Europe’s identity ?
(building a positive relationship of the citizens to Europe, making people aware of the advantages and disadvantages) :
We have began a new process of sesibilization qith Europe´s identity. It´s never been done before. The first step is to participate actively in global convocatories like the Day without Cars, with enviromental sensibilization and the European Policies about preservation of the urban nature, fight against polution, etc. Another example is the work with other towns in Europe through the twinning.
Does it work? Yes, we can apreciate a better knowledge about Europe, and special sensibilization about European policies, especially at the social and enviromental level.
Way to improve : Celebrate regular exchanges with towns in Europe, Twinning with towns, Participation in European Convocatories focused on citizens.
Has your local government ever developed strategies to increase the city’s image ?
- letting other citizens of Europe know your advantages and disadvantages (marketing activities of the city, common projects focused on making the name of your city known, creating a new visual style of tourist materials).
1. Since long time ago, Plasencia, as Spain does, has developed a really good and hight strategy of promotion, based on the tourism industry (notice that Spain is the first touristical destination in the world at the same level of USA and before France, Italy, and other clasical destinations). Aproximately every 4-5 years the slogan changes, and so you can promote diferent aspects of the town. But it doesn´t permit you to create a long term line in promotion. What it shows is a non good planification in the local tourism strategies. Some things are really good, and is the big encrease of the visitors year after year, maybe due to the asistance at international Tourism Fairs like London, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Lisbon, etc. The work with touroperators has been done correctly, but not at the local level, where there’s no plan to work together with the private sector. This means a disperssion of the efectivity. For that reason we prepared the other project named: System of Tourism Quality at Destiantion.
Does/did it work? Partialy: Yes at the repercussion. Not at the eficiency at the internal level.
Way to improve : develop the promotionstrategy together with the private sector (scale econom)
EXAMPLE STUDY
PLASENCIA – CITY OF WALLS 2007
September 2006 – June 2007
Plasencia, Spain
Since two years ago we are working in a new Plan for the local development. We have made a study to know exactly the strategical economy sectors for the coming years. Of course Tourism and services is one of them, the main one.
Place/ location of the project :
The project will be developed in Plasencia, but it also includes activities of international relevance and developed in diferent points that will permit us to have a bigger impact, like the presentation in the Anual Symposium 2006 of the Walled Towns Fiendship Circle in Verona (Italy) or the celebration in Plasencia of the Symposium 2007. Also the constituition of the Iberian Forum of Walled Towns will have an important relevance in a crossborder meaning.
Field of the project / hard cultural values : (physical surroundings) :
þ Urban planning: making a plan / structure plan / vision for a (part of the) city
þ Art
þ Science
þ Conservation
þ Restoration
Field of the project / soft cultural values : (people and activities) :
þ History
þ Cultural heritage
þ Sports
þ Tourism
þ Sociology
þ Economics
þ Education + sensibilization
From the moment we aplied the the project for the Quality in the tourism sector, we experienced that it was necesary to use a global project for everything we do, under the concept of City-Marketing.
The reason why is to emphasize the results through the Scale Systems, and so that the atention is focused on the selected Topic, loosing no atention in some other topics.
More than 110 towns from Spain and Portugal have been contacted for this project in the Cross-Border activities part. Some other activities will be the celebration of Technical Meetings, cultural events in places arroun and inside the walls, Walls Month in Schools, Art interventions, etc.
Scale of the project :
þ international,
þ national,
þ regional,
þ local
As the project has got international activities, we can say it´s International Scaled, but also a lot of activities will just have local or regional dimenssion.
Type of project:
þ Participation
(several activities where the citizens will participate)
þ Inform, education
(activities in schools and University)
þ Activities, like festival
(music, theatre, exibitions and Art Interventions, children events, etc)
þ Brainstorm
(in tecnical and social meetings)
þ Decision making, strategy, planning, vision
(in the development of the Plan for the Walls for the coming 20 years : Plan Director – in Spanish –)
þ Study, analysis
(in technical meetings)
þ Preservation, conservation
(different interventions in wall and buildings)
þ Reconstruction, renewal
(some of both kind of interventions)
þ PR, recreation, and attraction
(in certain moments like Chrismast and focused on children)
Add Picures of Torre Lucía Festival
This project is a big one itself with smaller ones in it. But in some how we can say it´s the final part of a Strategy began arround 5 years ago (please see the ponit Evaluation in General some down)
In any case of course that includes several small projects, some focused on Identity, and some others on Image. The ones focused on Image are basically the touristical ones.
Main objective(s) / goals of the project :
- Offering a new image of Plasencia by working in a new concept of plan
- Creating a new development method by thematizising periods of time (one year, two...)
- Creating a sensitivity on the population about the heritage in general and the wall in particular
- Promoting the town from diferent points of view (social, cultural, touristical, scientific, artistic, educational, etc)
- Positioning Plasencia as the main Town in Spain when talking about walls, not the heritage itself, but in the rest of aspects (investigation, new uses, etc)
- Creating a Lobby about walls
- Creating a international network of walled towns with municipalities from Spain, Portugal and American Countries, and locate the headquarter in Plasencia
- Being the bridge between Europe and America about walls
- Develop an agenda for the coming years that permit us to work together with many towns in Europe to prepare documents valid for the final attemp of Declaration of the Year of the Walls at the Europan level and by the EU.
Individual activities / partial steps undertaken for obtaining the goals of the project :
It´s all to come. It´s already been presented to the media, but the kick off will be in the Annual Symposium in Verona.
Anyway it´s all already planned.
Different people and parties involved in the project and their roles :
Artists - Interventions in the walls
Investors - Promotion of the project
Local government - Leader of the project and main founder
Residents of city/ quarter - Sensibilisation
Youngsters and children - Participation Children activities for sensibilization
Elderly - Volunteers
Advisors / experts - Design of restorations, exchange of knownledge, technical meetings...
Architects - Technical meetings and new plan for the wall
Urban designers - Technical meetings and new plan for the wall
Historians - Technical meetings and new plan for the wall
Social groups (ethnic, NGOs, etc) - Other meanings of Walls
Add picture of proposal of Artist and events in the center of the town
Level of the institutional / multidiscipline collaboration on this project :
The iniciative has been taken by the Local Goverment. We have been working in the previous phases since 2000, and planning this project for the last two years, and now finally it comes to light. At the moment we are in the final process of getting sponsors and the colaboration of some public administration, at the national level (in Spain and Portugal), but also at the Regional and Province level.
We already have the compromise of some institutions.
The private sector will also be important in the participation and promotion, and also in the final succes of some aspects that will be directly focused on them. And that´s been one of the main objectives of the project, because there has not been a good colaboration before between public and private sector in our town.
So this will permit us a new situation for the future.
We will count on diferent asociations for some parts of the project, depending on what activity is going to be developed, loke elderies, children, NGOs, cultural asociations, etc
The origin of all this project was the Development Plan presented in 2001, and since that moment we began with the small activities necesaries to give the framework situation that now permit us to implement this identity big project.
Evaluation in general :
Even it´s beginning we can consider it´s already being a success, as we have been able to bring the atraction of citizens and visitors to our town, and specially intereting about the walls. But also we have been able to make the Public Administration talking about us, and about walls.
But looking back we can see what we have done before:
In the Year 2001 we created the Development Department as a diferent Unit frm the rest of the Town Council, and also in that year we presented the Development Plan. That included diferent aspects about urbanism, economy, social affairs, culture, infraestructures (local and national), etc.
Since that moment untill now we have worked in the main aspects of it, like infraestructures that permited us to comunicate better with the main towns and places in Spain, and to acomodate visitors and offer them atractions enough in number and quality.
In the last three years we have been working in Local Infraestructures to keep on improving the situation, and over all in non material interventions, like for example the project System of Tourism Quality at Destiantion where some enterprises and services has been working to improve the situation.
We can assure that it´s been a succes, as almost the 80 % of the project has been done in 6 years, even it was planned for 15.
This has been posible due to the change of the decission making process.
Now the visitors have a diferent perception of the town, from an old one to a new one mantaining the old conception, traditions, heritage, etc.
In the last years two new 4 * hotels has open in the town, one of 3 * came to 4*, the number of tourists has been multiplied by 5 or more.
Alsoo the infraestructures has been improved.
This now permit us to begin with the project of Inmaterial interventions, to create the real identity of a Walled Twon.
So we can say it´s the final part of a bigger strategy, and at the same time it´s a project itself.
This all are part of the conclussions of the Development Department, together with the ones who did colaborate with us: Social, Heritage, Culture, Tourism, etc
In my personal opinion the correct planning for the future of the towns goes through not only the Development Plans but also the City-Marketing strategies, under thematising periods of time with topics that can suport diferent aspects of the town in a global meaning.
Future development :
Yes, this kind of projects or plans must be the how we may work in the future. It permit us to have new vission of the projects.
We must consider this into a bigger plan (the Development Plan) as the final part. But in the future, as the main investments will be already done (infraestructures, recuperation and restoration of the heritage, and main hardware elements) we should go on working in software projects.
In the last years in Spain the strategies under the concept of City-Marketing are showing their succes. It permits you to work at the minimum level at the same time you are co-ordinating all activities in the global concept or level.
It´s also flexible enough to make changes depending on the interest of the town itself and in any moment.
In our case we are already working in the following projec or period that will come on the year 2009, to prepare again a period of time under a concet that can suport all kind of small projects, and form local to international level.
It has also shown the interest of the private sector, as they are having relevance in all activiites, because all sponsors are included in the promotion of any event developed under the project conception, even it´s the biggest or the smallest.
It also permits you to get the implication of all sectors in some things usually related exclusively to public administrations, like the coservation of the heritage, including their suports in the global budget, and including them aswel in the same rate in all the activities.
In a recent Nacional Congress in Spain for City Marketing Strategies we were ablle to see how this kind of projects are the way to work in the coming years.
SUMMARY :
In the last times in Spain the system to promote a town or a bigger area has changed. The selection of an Icon to be the centre of the porject has became the way to create bigger projects. The design of the strategies now is done under one concept that can acomodate all kind of smaller projects. Also the thematisation of periods of time with the central icon permits to generate Scale Activities, and so Scale Economies.
It´s important to uderstand the new focusing through City-Marketing Strategies, wich includes also Geo-Marketing Strategies for Urban and Ecnomical Planning, media comunication plannig and a global managment under the same project concepts of local development.
In other words through the election of an Icon we can stablish a model of development, with a certain timing that permits developing all kind of interventions and events of all sectors of the town and citizens: cultural, educative, social, but also all activities and interest points, like heritage, shows and festivals, sports events, economy, etc
Plasencia has selected the Wall as the Icon of the development from what we have created a project or model of management under the same concept: the concept of the wall itself, or better the diferent conceptions or meanings that a wall can represent, not only in its phisical meaning or defensive origin, or in its first proposes when in was constructed, but also in all the other perspectives, that at the same time will provide us information and knowledge for new uses of the wall, what at the same time guarantees the preservation and conservationn of this cultural element.
For this reason we have designed a project which is the end of a big one (the development plan for Plasencia 2000 – 2012), or better the first step of the final phase of it, what means the begin of the strong efford in the soft interventions, the non material one.
The first part of this Development Plan was mainly an infraestructural one, and two years ago we began to make more effords in the rest of interventions. This part we present here is the second one, after a first ste on improvement of the Quality at al sectors (public and private) and activities or services, and it´s been done in the framework of a National Project. After kicking of this part now we will give the following step, the project I show you here.
The title will be: Plasencia – City of Walls 2007, and will take place from september 2006 up to june 2007, making special enphasize in the part of 2007.
In all this period many diferet activities will be deveoped in diferent sectors: from urban planning to social meetings, from restoration to sensibilization, from education to sports meetings or festivals of theatre, music, etc.
But as this project planned in the last two years cannot stop just with the promotion, and as the international perspective should never be lost (think global – act local) we will do the local at the same time than the global. For that reason we are working on the creation of an Iberian Network of towns from Spain and Portugal. In the global sense it will permit us the creation of a lobby to obtain funds/grants from diferent administrations, from European to Regional, for the restoration, conservation, promotion, sensibilization, etc of the walls, the towns, etc. In this same sense we will try to create an agenda for two more bigger things: 1st will be the extension of the network to America, and 2nd one will be the first projects to try the EU to declare the Year of the Walls some day in the future.
At the local level Plasencia will become the headquarter of this asociation, and so will permit to create a permanent staff to work on the walls affairs, but also could be the bridge between Europe and America when talking abour walls. This would posicionate our town as an important one at the international level.
For all this development we are working to have the suport of the private and public sectors, including Ministries from Spain and Portugal, Regional Governments, National Institutions, for example in the public sector; and diferent enterprises from internationals based in Spain and Portugal, to local ones like bars, hotels, restaurants, etc, and all them will be promoted in some how in the total projet.
As main moments Plasencia will held the Foundation of the Iberian Forum of Walled Towns next november 2006, and will celebrate the Anual Symposium of the Walled Towns Friendship Circle in April 2007. But we will celebrate anyway a lot of activities in diferent places.
See you in Plasencia
This contribution is possible thanks to the work of the Development Department of Plasencia Town Council, and the International Department of the Private Enterprise “Global Consulting”.
Contact :
Jose Luis Munoz Encinar
AYUNTAMIENTO DE PLASENCIA
GLOBAL JIS CONSULTING
Contact / Tel.:
+34 927 417 510
+34 927 410 289
mobile +34 676 961 968
