Changing Spaces; Making Places🌅 5.5

Question 1

How do planners & architects make places?

Answer 1

• local authorities maintain their own planning departments - inc. elements of place eg housing, transport, amenities
• individual buildings & public spaces = designed by architects - through design, buildings can reflect history & culture of a place
• tower block flats used to replace houses bombed down after WW2 - eyesore - have been destroyed since 1980s - replaced by low-rise housing

Question 2

Describe a 24-hour city

Answer 2

• cities that never sleep - large urban areas which can be transformed into different places depending on the time of day
• London - night bus routes doubled, increasing fast food restaurants, gyms, hairdressers open at night - art exhibitions & theatres open into early hours
• around the clock activity growth = due to pop. change - London - rising pop. - especially centrally where professional younger people have taken up residence

Question 3

How do local community groups shape the place they live in?

Answer 3

• establishment of residents associations - concerned with housing, community & environmental matters
• heritage associations - active in place among process - focus on distinguishing characterisation based on past characteristics eg National Trust
• digital placemaking - social media used to encourage public participation in planning & decision making regarding land-use
• ‘power of 10+’ - 10+ reasons to use a place - social media - allows ideas to be stated, brought together & considered

Question 4

Why do places rebrand?

Answer 4

• image of place depends on perceptions of it - place’s brand = popular image its required - if a place acquires a negative brand - rebranding = attempted
• eg after Great Fire of London - Christopher Wren created a master plan to rebrand the area
• eg 1960s & 70s - UK - attempted rebalance of spatial inequality - relocating public & private sector from London —> peripheral regions eg Merseyside - as these regions suffered negative image due to declining heavy industry

Question 5

What are the 3 key elements for rebranding?

Answer 5

• brand artefact: - physical environment eg buildings or rural area features eg dry stone walls or former industry evidence eg waste tips
• brand essence: - people’s experience of place
• brandscape: - how place positions itself in relation to other competitor places
• rebranding: existing identities reworked/new ones created - issue = avoid alienating groups eg existing residents

Question 6

What are the strategies for rebranding a place?

Answer 6

• Market-led: - private investors aiming to make profit
• Legacy: - following international sporting events which brought regeneration & investment eg 2012 London Olympics
• Events: major festivals eg European Culture Capital - Liverpool, 2008 - catalyst for cultural development & city transformation

Question 7

Who are the people & groups involved in rebranding?

Answer 7

• players: EU’s ERDF - gives grants to assist projects eg improvements to A55, North Wales - played part in rebranding of area & tourist development
• corporate bodies: eg banks - help fund rebranding strategies & carry out physical developments used to generate long-term income flows

Question 8

Which case study can be used for an example of rebranding?

Answer 8

Barcelona

Question 9

Barcelona - rebranding history

Answer 9

• history of rebranding itself - major sporting events held eg 1992 Olympics
• Franco, Spain’s political director - repressed culture & language of Basque & Catalonian regions & censured media - his death allowed dictatorship to be brought into the country
• local authority brought regeneration plans in 1980 - 7 year plan focusing on 140 small projects

Question 10

Barcelona - role of culture

Answer 10

• distinctive architecture of Gaudi - gave Barcelona buildings recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• refurbishment of public spaces & galleries
• art galleries, museums, restaurants, cafes etc promote city as vibrant
• La Rambla - tree-lined boulevard designed to attract locals & tourists to its shops, cafes, galleries, bars

Question 11

Barcelona - role of sport

Answer 11

• 1992 Olympic Games - used the games to regenerate the city & renovate run down areas eg riverside park built to host media, business parks & conference centre
• Olympics spaked ‘1 city’ strategy - intended to offer something for everyone & unite the city around a public project so everyone had a say
  in how the Olympics would be shaped
• Nou Camp stadium - Barcelona football club - creates community essence in Barcelona

Question 12

Barcelona - Raval background & why was rebranding required?

Answer 12

• Raval was 1 of the most densely populated urban areas in the world
• workers were housed in tenement blocks - immigrants settled closest to port - taking advantage of cheap lodging in rundown tenements & easy access to informal employment around docks
• had reputation for illicit activities eg petty crime, prostitution & drug dealing

Question 13

Barcelona - Raval rebranding projects

Answer 13

• private university constructed & restaurants, art galleries, bars, cafes & high-quality food shops - this change = associated with gentrification
• Raval Rambla - physical regeneration - huge tree-lined pedestrianised space - allows flexible use for street markets & small local festivals
• new housing constructed for those displaced by this scheme

Question 14

Barcelona - disadvantages/contested arguments to rebranding

Answer 14

• in-migration of wealthy residents with a different perspective on how the area should be managed - causes arguments
• now employed opportunities in demand by better-off - generated social tensions
• wealth residents make poorer residents feel excluded from new facilities
• property speculation has raised house prices & some landlords are keen to see existing residents leave to allow them to cash-in - stories have emerged of applied pressure - especially to long-standing elderly

Question 15

What elements are involved in the rebranding process?

Answer 15

• retail: - increase in customer spending significance - rebranding aided by retail environments eg Birmingham Bull Ring
• art: - galleries & events - eg Tate, St Ives - pivotal in rebranding of this area - art events eg Glastonbury contribute culturally & economically to image of the place
• sport: - major international sporting events eg Grande Prix - can be catalyst which starts rebranding eg Bahrain - established itself on F1 race list as part of its rebranding