Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma. Photo: Jose Madrid, Flickr
New Perspectives on La Palma
this week participated in a debate about the geography and economy of the island of La Palma, entitled Perspectives forward. A meeting organized by the foundation Fydes CajaCanarias and has been coordinated by Professors Carlos Fernandez and Francisco Rodriguez of the Faculty of Economics, University of La Laguna.
In that event are going to present some ideas on what are prospects for a future possible economic and territorial island landscape so characteristic, fragile and limited as La Palma, in the global context. As I mentioned a few times, the islands and, above all, small islands, are well placed to act as a regional laboratory to analyze the changing circumstances that shape our places and to which routes the entire planet.
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some extent, the islands, due to their limited and finite space, anticipate the trends that will be imposed globally in the management of the territories, in an economic context each more and more interconnected. Therefore, I think, are a privileged place for the prospective. That is, tools to analyze these trends, their territorial impact and, therefore, diagnose the situation and assess which potential alternatives and ideas to tackle the situation with the minimum conditions for success.
In my case, I have been asked to do a little brainstorming on the land and architecture. I hope to respond to what I need not repeat arguments already known and too trite.
For those who do not know it would have to explain that La Palma is a place that has undoubted geographical values. Most of them are related to biological, and cultural landscape. It has a national park el de la Caldera de Taburiente, que atesora innumerables especies endémicas, botánicas y zoológicas, en un espacio preservado de una manera correcta. Su condición como espacio que se ha sustraído a un desarrollo inmobiliario incontrolado, junto a otras innegables condiciones culturales y paisajísticas, le ha valido también su declaración como Reserva de la Biosfera, de acuerdo a los criterios de la Unesco.
No obstante, actualmente, La Palma es una sociedad que decrece demográficamente, estancada económicamente dependiendo de unas estructuras agrarias de exportación subvencionada, en proceso de extinción y sumamente depauperadas. En consecuencia, sus perspectivas de futuro no are very promising unless explore alternatives to improve their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses.
The Economic and Social Council of the Canary Islands has courageously addressed the issue in its latest annual report on the regional economy, devoted an entire chapter to this island and titled, La Palma, economy, society and environment . It is a documented and valuable work that has appeared recently, a huge intellectual effort that seeks to address these issues to provide some light on the problems of that particular island territory in the current climate.
Many of the things said in this work, I think it's very enriching to light some possible alternatives to stimulate the development of the island of La Palma in the future. Among them, the proposal of different agricultural innovations linked to the secular traditions of the place would look, for a layman like me, a viable mechanism to ensure an improvement in the dwindling income of the palm. Smart intends to address a strategy of differentiation and quality, offering agricultural products recognizable to any peculiar distinction and building on the natural and the absence of fertilizers as a synonym for excellence. Criteria appear to be correct.
In my perception on what was exposed, recovery nearby markets, island and regional fresh produce and perishable vegetables and fruits, packaged as private label organic and would contribute to the objective of improving agricultural incomes island.
A third element would be essential should be to build advanced marketing channels, it is necessary for the support of the regional administration. Should accelerate the promotion of markets and municipal markets as a mechanism to provide an alternative distribution to large retail chains of foreign capital does not really support the regional production beyond statements hollow.
units landscape of the island of La Palma. In blue, anthropogenic, green, biotic, and ocher, abiotic. Analysis conducted by the team of the Biosphere Reserve of La Palma
Following the ideas outlined by the report on the island of Economic and Social Council of the Canaries, it seems necessary to increase the attractiveness to the outside to increase the volume of visits and thus support the sustainability island. In this line, La Palma is a hidden treasure greatly appreciated by a small number of connoisseurs who value greatly the enjoyment of their landscape and natural conditions. Hiking is a privileged activity in this regard. However, the annual number of overnight stays is too low to adequately support economic survival of an area where 80,000 people live.
undo The m is a geographic space that move four basic types of flows: capital, information, goods and people. These flows are evidently determined the economy of places. As expressed by Richard Florida in a brilliant metaphor for the differences in GDP between regions, the world has ceased to be flat to become a land of valleys extensive and a few towering peaks.
regard to the above, the Canary Islands with an intensity only in regard to the movement of people, and that tourism generates a considerable flow of passengers, exceeding 25 million annually. There are some attempts to maintain an activity linked to the transfer of goods and exports declining primary sector products. This region is unlikely, although it tries, in regard to information and arguably that is transparent to the flows of capital.
In this context, what are the attractions of an island-specific such as La Palma is to increase the flow of people?
's position as an island La Palma in the system of passenger transport networks is doubly peripheral. It follows a clear weakness that must lead to efforts to publicize its benefits and advantages have to be redoubled through all channels where possible.
But in return, some point (such as Gilmore and Pine ) the attractiveness of places offering unique experiences is enhanced and not replicable by competitors. In this, the island has many things to offer and arrange them in a matter of visibility conditions more effective.
Tazacorte Patio, La Palma. Photo: Charles Schwartz, Historical Archive of the COAC
Some are already known and are related to access to a unique landscape structures. Other should be connected with an appropriate combination of intelligent management of this territory that still contains natural elements, the preservation of traditional culture and a host agricultural and farming legacy reasonable flow of visitors, taking advantage of existing infrastructure and architecture.
These are intangible assets that will be critical to development of the potential tourism industry reception in this space insular That is, environmental and landscape characteristics, the way it has finalized the process of human impact, the specific territorial construction on the island historically done, and finally, the taste of very serious and a culture rooted in the traditions of southern Europe formally expressed in the popular architectural legacy.
But it could be many other elements that have not yet explored this result in order to generate attractive target for the provision of experiences based on local culture. Recent work by a brilliant researcher palm, Arnoldo Santos, entitled Strolling among gardens, offers a new perspective related to exogenous vegetation accumulated over the short history of the archipelago.
The character of La Palma and biological relic has singularities related to botany and zoology which are a key asset whose use has been organized properly. A step further is the one related to the introduction of exotic flora. A fact that has occurred in a natural way throughout history and remains relatively hidden.
But it shares characteristics with the island of Madeira. And there seems that they are building more intelligence. The motto which advertises the Atlantic island, the island of flowers, it could be transposed to La Palma. An example of the strategies developed in the Portuguese island is the presence of a botanical garden in Funchal is an infrastructure that provides a learning experience to the visitor, an offer that allows us to understand the specific qualities of the plant itself and introduced into that island.
Funchal Botanical Garden. Photo: Joseph Ferreira Jr, Flickr
According to this argument, another element that may increase the attractiveness of the island is the enhancement of traditional gardening. A circuit explanatory forms, species and characters used in home gardens that remain, it could be a new value that could be provided.
Another issue that would provide a new area to explore is the one that could lead to quality architecture as an element that brings added value to the present appeal. It is necessary to do so, identifying the authenticity of the elements of heritage value overcomes a vision, widespread on the island, romantic and retrograde architecture. I refer to the need to stimulate el talento en la producción arquitectónica, permitiendo la aparición de una expresión contemporánea que no sea meramente imitativa de las formas del pasado. Un complemento que se echa también en falta en La Palma es una mayor sofisticación en el interiorismo; algo que requiere de la aportación de especialistas preparados que den un toque de modernidad a las inserciones en los edificios más allá de actuaciones superficiales y meramente cosméticas.
Hay que recurrir nuevamente al ejemplo de alguna arquitectura reciente de Madeira y Azores para ejemplificar esta tesis. Unas experiencias insulares ligadas también netamente al lugar, pero que no renuncian al Zetgeist , la expresión estética que corresponde a la contemporaneidad.
Casa das Mudas. Espacio exterior de acceso. Paulo David, arquitecto. Calheta, Madeira 2005
Es relevante el caso del proyecto del centro cultural de la Casa das Mudas en Calheta, del colega macaronésico Paulo David, que hace una interpretación brillante del paisaje magmático de la isla para insertar un programa museístico con reminiscencias cultas plenamente actuales. Un edificio que fue nominado como edificio del año 2005 en el Premio Mies van der Rohe de Arquitectura Contemporánea de la Unión Europea.
Of course, there are a multitude of possibilities related to this issue of self-centered development but I think that this is not adequate space to expand the depth that would require
Now I see. Brigitte installation Kowanz MUMOK in discussing --->
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