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A sense of place: positioning identity in northern Portugal
If you can't beat them, work together.
Age-old rivalry often makes for the best stories. But in modern times, instead of driving apart, distinct characteristics providing fodder for timeless feuds between cities can be parlayed into collective assets. In northwest Portugal, four cities with four different urban contexts have come together to create Quadrilátero Urbano, a policy tool to combine the strengths of its members: Barcelos, Braga, Vila Nova de Famalicão and Guimarães. Separated by an average of 20 kilometers, the four cities all have their distinct identity. Rather than vying for prominence as the historical context might encourage, each city is improving their public policy by leaning into specific attributes in a uniquely modern way.
Guimarães holds the lofty title as the “Birthplace of Portugal”. A plaque on the ancient city fortifications proclaims the phrase “Aqui nasceu Portugal” (Portugal was born here). A short drive away lies the city of Vila Nova de Famalicão, the New City of Famalicao. One city boasts history while another conjures youth in its name. Braga is known as the city of churches but in the 21th Century, the city is an ardent believer in culture, of its youth and the diversity of recently arrived inhabitants. Rising above the Cávado River rich in a clay perfectly suited to crafting spellbinding ceramics, notably the emblematic Portuguese rooster figurine, Barcelos is a capital for artisans and handicrafts.
City branding: more than a slogan
Helsinki branding adorns the city hall building
With such proximity, identity and local traditions are the key to economic and social vitality for all four cities, instilling a sense of pride in the overall region. City branding is a relatively new phenomenon but has always existed in the cultural consciousness. New York is the city that never sleeps. Paris is the city of lights. In an era of intense globalisation and big-city fatigue, smaller cities are looking to stake their claim as an alternative to aggressively dense megalopolises. Place branding plays a key role in forging a new identity for lesser-known urban areas, allowing smaller cities to compete with global capitals.
Much more than a logo or slogan, a successful city brand is backed by good policy and defines the essence of a place, proclaiming what exactly that city has to offer. All too often, a place brand fails to dive deep, opting for a catch phrase and a cryptic visual meant to distill centuries of history and context in a few hundred pixels. Seen through the Cities@Heart lens, city centres serve as a showroom for cities on the rise and the identity they choose for their future. A famous example of revolutionary city branding is the “Bilbao Effect”. Once a hub of industry, the city invited the Guggenheim museum to set up a satellite museum in its declining downtown area, an architectural landmark successfully repositioning the Basque city as a cultural capital on the world stage at the dawn of the new millennium. With a finite number of international museum outposts, it’s not every city that can rely on the media power of “starchitects”. Whether a city embraces its history or decides to take on a rebranding project, authenticity remains at the core of any successful place promotion initiative.
III Circular Architecture Marathon: Onda towards a Green and Circular Lung
The Department of Circular Architecture of the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) has taken another step forward in its commitment to sustainability and circularity in the built environment by organising the third edition of the idea’s competition (III Circular Architecture Marathon). The main objective of this event is to promote reflection and dissemination among students and professionals on the implementation of the concepts of sustainability and circularity in construction and urban planning processes, contributing to the transformation of the sector towards a circular economy and supporting the decarbonisation of urban environments. In this edition, the initiative has been supported by the Onda City Council and had as a case study the project (Onda's Green Lung).
5 Καλές Πρακτικές URBACT: τοποθετώντας τις πόλεις στο επίκεντρο της ενεργειακής μετάβασης
Οι ηγέτες παγκοσμίως στρέφουν την προσοχή τους στις πόλεις για να υποστηρίξουν την ενεργειακή μετάβαση. Ανακαλύψτε πέντε Καλές Πρακτικές URBACT που βοηθάνε τις ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις να εκπληρώσουν τους κλιματικούς στόχους και να διασφαλίσουν ισότιμη πρόσβαση στην ενέργεια.
Στα τέλη του 2024, ζητήθηκε από τις ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις και περιφέρειες να καταθέσουν τις λύσεις τους για βιώσιμη ανάπτυξη. Οι αιτήσεις που υποβλήθηκαν αξιολογήθηκαν βάσει του τοπικού τους αντίκτυπου, των συμμετοχικών και ολοκληρωμένων προσεγγίσεων, καθώς και την πιθανή μεταφορά τους σε άλλες ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις.
Αυτό το άρθρο επικεντρώνεται σε πέντε από τις 116 προσφάτως επιλεγμένες Καλές Πρακτικές URBACT. Αυτές οι αστικές πρωτοβουλίες παρέχουν πολύτιμες γνώσεις σχετικά με πρακτικές και λύσεις που δύνανται να αναπαραχθούν για την επίτευξη φιλόδοξων κλιματικών στόχων και τη διασφάλιση ισότιμης, κοινοτικά καθοδηγούμενης πρόσβασης στην ενέργεια. Μάθετε περισσότερα σχετικά με το πώς οι τοπικές κυβερνήσεις, οι διάφοροι ενδιαφερόμενοι φορείς και οι κοινότητες στις ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις συνεργάζονται ήδη για να καταστήσουν την ενεργειακή απόδοση πραγματικότητα, μειώνοντας παράλληλα τις εκπομπές και αντιμετωπίζοντας την ενεργειακή φτώχεια.
Crna Gora se priključila programu URBACT IV 2023. godine, ostvarivši uspjeh već u prvom pozivu. Crnogorske opštine Berane, Bijelo Polje i Budva pridružile su se evropskim gradovima u održivom urbanom planiranju
Pregledajte bazu podataka URBACT dobrih praksi i otkrijte savršenu ideju za vaš grad!
Nova verzija baze podataka URBACT dobrih praksi je tu! Sa čak 116 novih urbanih praksi koje pokrivaju teme od mobilnosti i stanovanja, preko zelene urbane regeneracije, do lokalne ekonomije i angažovanja mladih, ove inovativne inicijative nude praktična rešenja koja su spremna za primjenu u drugim evropskim gradovima koji žele da unaprijede svoj održivi urbani razvoj.
Ove prakse su stekle prestižnu URBACT Good Practice oznaku nakon što je Odbor za nadgledanje programa URBACT donio odluku 29. oktobra 2024. godine. URBACT dobra praksa je urbana inicijativa koja se odlikuje velikim uticajem, participativnim pristupom, integrisanim rješenjima, relevantnošću i, što je najvažnije, lakoćom prenosa u druge gradove širom Evrope.
Baza podataka URBACT dobrih praksi omogućava detaljan uvid u svaku od njih, kao i u ključne korake potrebne za njihovu primjenu u drugim sredinama. Zainteresovani urbani praktičari mogu se povezati sa autorima ovih praksi i započeti potencijalna partnerstva.
