What is enabling, or blocking, us to make holistic historic district transformation happen?
What does it mean to work on transformation of a historic city district? How can you talk about innovation in semi-abandoned historic districts with narrow streets, old buildings and economies based on tourism and gentrification?
We tend to think that an incremental and siloed approach, moving one step after another — adding some PVs in a roof, opening a small garden or enabling the sorting of plastic waste — is the maximum we can do to make a district sustainable. These things are surely part of what we need to do; yet, they are not enough. Be it energy efficiency or waste management, such a point-solution approach is not bringing us to where we want to be. Changes are not broad, deep or fast enough to enable the transformations that we need to make our cities and their historic districts the best places to visit, work and — moreover — live.
Now, you could ask: does it change anything to be a historic district compared to whatever else district it the world? Why are we focusing so much in those specific tiny contexts?
It is because of identity, a strong identity They are places that would make people move from all over the World to see them, at least once in a life. They have the power of a centennial identity which is also their condemnation, as it comes with the abandon of buildings to leave space to tourism and gentrification. In the other hand, they represent the hardest parts of cities to change. Therefore, they could be able to set an example for other districts to follow and for the entire cities. Indeed, an ideal space for testing transformation patterns.
In 2018, with colleagues and partners at EIT Climate-KIC, we have started a process of trying to do things differently with six historic districts in Southern Europe, characterised by similar beauties and challenges to test how can we enable transformation.
We have been immersed in:
- the magic of Alfama district in Lisbon, famous for its uniqueness, but in the hands of gentrification;
- Valletta, the capital city of Malta with almost no green in the heart of the Mediterranean;
- Ptuj, a Slovenian pearl exploited by industries, abandoning the historical identity;
- Savona, where cruises are deciding how the economy develops;
- Sassari, where green is hidden from the eyes and common spaces are often car parking;
- Nicosia, the last divided capital in Europe, where even before sustainable buildings, there is the need to rebuild the sense of the community.
Challenges are crossing borders and similar in all cities and districts. Learnings from each other could help speed up the changes that we are desperately needing to achieve to ensure the future of these places.
During the last two years, we have shown that successful transformation needs time and several steps. We have pushed for an integrated approach to changing systems in these districts, but there is a constant risk to fall back into silos if we do not put these steps into a robust process.
We have to keep stopping to ask ourselves:
- What is that we are learning from what we are doing?
- Is our work leading towards a real transformation or is it an incremental project, over another, that is going to end with some outstanding roadmaps, action plans to be added to the (sometimes already large) stack of books in a city office?
- How can you make transformation happen without looking at what is happening in the process through different perspective?
To answer those questions, we have been working with cities team using the enablers of change through a sensemaking participatory session.
Sensemaking is an approach, a momentum (or a series of momenti) in the transformation process. It is the point when you have learned enough to change role. To focus in areas of change — in this case the enablers of change — and focus in a question. In our case, the question was: what is enabling or blocking us for a transformative change?
Hence, it means to make emerge in an orchestrated process, what we suppose we already know and to unpack it. To investigate the issues from a balcony view. Like if we were outside of this city, of this problem, of this world. And after this to go back, discover what you have learned. Somehow, to give birth again to our interpretation of reality. A more mature one, ideally. And look into what we need to do to move forward as to make the transformation happen.
The most common patters that emerged in this session have been:
1) The city teams have identified their barriers relatively slowly. It is a process that requires time.
2) A common blocker is alignment and use of funding. Despite there are funding available, they are not following in ways that are supporting real transformation and — even the most positive actions — are getting stacked and isolated.
3) There is lack of trust. Trust in politics, trust in people, trust in processes and in promises. Too many things are told and not so many are happening.
4) Digging more in depth, what we really lack is time and people to be fully dedicated to nurturing a process that would make radical change happen. In a word: resources.
5) In historic districts, as everywhere else, the blocker comes mostly from silos, in administration; in funding; in people.
6) The historic nature of districts simply adds another layer of complexity, which is tendency to not see those places “alive” for people to live. Siloed even from the city architecture itself.
After this balcony view, our question is: How can you really make a systemic change in places where you would need to find a new way to bring the green among streets, make them clean and not have trash around, use natural resources, but not change what is the identity of places?
Yet, we have not found the answer to this question. There is not a magic receipt per each district, or city. Surely not even for the historic ones. Nevertheless, what is true is that we are learning a process to move from the chains of blockers towards the acknowledge that transformation is possible. Ultimately, when innovation is properly orchestrated and the right people gather, they can create this enabling environment for systemic change.
Would this process make the historic districts of Southern Europe the best places to visit, work and live? We do not yet have the answer. What we know is that we have started a long regenerative transformative process towards this goal.
To know more about the Sustainable Historic Districts project: sustainablehistoriccitydistricts.files.wordpress.com/
