Spatial strategies as a place branding tool in the region of Ruhr
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CASE STUDY
Spatial strategies as a place branding tool in the region of Ruhr Evangelos Asprogerakas1 · Kiki Mountanea2 Revised: 1 March 2020 © Springer Nature Limited 2020
Abstract The shaping of a strong, recognizable and thus attractive identity of a place is closely linked to the process of effective planning, both on strategic and physical level. Heritage is a common branding tool that relied on the exploitation and presentation of, among others, urban forms related to the past. This research seeks to connect spatial strategies and place branding through the case study of the Region of Ruhr. The Ruhr Valley has long been linked to the industrial history of Europe due to the concentration of mining and steel industry. Today the region is undergoing a restructuring process. This work will focus on the strategies and actions implemented with an emphasis on the development of the Emscher Landshaftspark developed in the 1990s. The aim is to examine the gradual creation of a new identity through the sites’ transformation by identifying typological characteristics among the network’s flagship projects. Α key question is whether individual interventions compose a comprehensive and time-resistant branding strategy in conjunction with directions and practices of spatial planning formulating a distinctive model. The function of the main narrative as a framework of governance processes is going to be explored. Keywords Spatial planning · Regional branding · Industrial heritage · Brownfields · Strategic planning
Introduction This paper examines the case of the Ruhr Valley’s transformation through the shaping of a place brand, by focusing on the development of Emscher Landscape Park, a network of remediated post-industrial sites. The area has experienced big spatial and structural changes through its history and is en route to one more. The de-industrialization follows an attempt to house new activities in the region according to the creation of a strong identity of cultural and recreational usages that feed back into the deprived employment and housing sectors. Among the various strategies and actions implemented, the paper will emphasise on the development of the Emscher Landshaftspark. Thirty years after the birth of the initiative redevelopment projects proliferate and more post-industrial fields are adding to the network of the regenerated brownfields. The literature review deals with the planning-branding relations and the role of culture and heritage * Evangelos Asprogerakas [email protected] 1
Department of Planning & Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, 38334 Vólos, Greece
School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
2
narratives on identity building. The gradual creation of the new identity for the area through the sites’ transformation will be approached by identifying typological characteristics among the network’s flagship projects.
Spatial strategies and interventions as place branding tools As the competition among cities and regions
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