Pia Heike Johansen, Sarah Kristine Johansen, Flemming Just and Klaus Lindegaard (Danish Institute of Rural Research and Development), Inger and Jens Otto Callisen (IC Byfornyelse): Local growth strategies and urban renewal in peripheral areas.
Published by the Ministry of Welfare – The Enterprise and Construction Authority – and Ministry of Economy and Business Affairs 2008, 117 pp.
English résumé:
(Full report - in Danish)
The report shows how it is possible to combine a local growth strategy with urban renewal in small towns in peripheral areas. The background for the report is a study carried out in two case areas in the Danish periphery: Nordby and Fanø Bad on the island of Fanø in South West Jutland and Gedser in the municipality of Guldborgsund on the island of Falster in South East Denmark. The study took place from autumn 2007 until spring 2008.
The basic building block of the local growth strategy method is the processes of local participation and partnership building for rediscovering and reactivating local resources. Such a process is a way to make operational experience economy strategies at local as well as regional levels. The overall experience economy project-model includes on one hand local business and cultural life as the actors who should activate local resources. On the other hand, the model includes the local resources, which are both natural and cultural heritages and local associations and local identity.
The point of departure is urban renewal including specific building and areas. This makes it possible to engage and mobilise local actors. The processes are activated through focus group interviews, village walks, individual interviews, participant observations and community meetings. The method includes in the two case areas ‘Fanø’ and ‘Gedser’ a more than half a year process of citizen meetings and focus groups resulting in the establishment of local partnership groups for development projects integrated in a common local growth strategy. The consultants and researchers play an active role in a dynamic data collecting process in which preliminary results go into subsequent steps of local participation and partnership building.
The local communities diversify in the sense that local growth strategies are nested within regional development plans, but diversify the regional strategy in accordance with a place-based approach focussing on local resources and aspirations. Such a strategy fertilises ‘diversity and open minded’ municipalities and regions. This is on one hand expected to make it more attractive for diversity of socioeconomically citizens to settle there, and on the other hand to attract tourists who go for diversity of experiences within smaller geographic areas. Diversification is both a way to enhance sustainability and ensure participation in the process. That is why the processes of local participation and partnership building in developing local growth strategies are important. Local participation is both a prerequisite and a result of an ongoing strategy process. The study concludes that through the processes of local participation each community gets their own very specific resources and actors activated into a local development strategy that contributes to urban renewal.
The Danish Ministry of Welfare and the Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority, the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs have financed the project in collaboration with two municipalities. A consulting company (architect) and a research institute carried out the study from June 2007 to April 2008.
Published by the Ministry of Welfare – The Enterprise and Construction Authority – and Ministry of Economy and Business Affairs 2008, 117 pp.
English résumé:
(Full report - in Danish)
The report shows how it is possible to combine a local growth strategy with urban renewal in small towns in peripheral areas. The background for the report is a study carried out in two case areas in the Danish periphery: Nordby and Fanø Bad on the island of Fanø in South West Jutland and Gedser in the municipality of Guldborgsund on the island of Falster in South East Denmark. The study took place from autumn 2007 until spring 2008.
The basic building block of the local growth strategy method is the processes of local participation and partnership building for rediscovering and reactivating local resources. Such a process is a way to make operational experience economy strategies at local as well as regional levels. The overall experience economy project-model includes on one hand local business and cultural life as the actors who should activate local resources. On the other hand, the model includes the local resources, which are both natural and cultural heritages and local associations and local identity.
The point of departure is urban renewal including specific building and areas. This makes it possible to engage and mobilise local actors. The processes are activated through focus group interviews, village walks, individual interviews, participant observations and community meetings. The method includes in the two case areas ‘Fanø’ and ‘Gedser’ a more than half a year process of citizen meetings and focus groups resulting in the establishment of local partnership groups for development projects integrated in a common local growth strategy. The consultants and researchers play an active role in a dynamic data collecting process in which preliminary results go into subsequent steps of local participation and partnership building.
The local communities diversify in the sense that local growth strategies are nested within regional development plans, but diversify the regional strategy in accordance with a place-based approach focussing on local resources and aspirations. Such a strategy fertilises ‘diversity and open minded’ municipalities and regions. This is on one hand expected to make it more attractive for diversity of socioeconomically citizens to settle there, and on the other hand to attract tourists who go for diversity of experiences within smaller geographic areas. Diversification is both a way to enhance sustainability and ensure participation in the process. That is why the processes of local participation and partnership building in developing local growth strategies are important. Local participation is both a prerequisite and a result of an ongoing strategy process. The study concludes that through the processes of local participation each community gets their own very specific resources and actors activated into a local development strategy that contributes to urban renewal.
The Danish Ministry of Welfare and the Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority, the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs have financed the project in collaboration with two municipalities. A consulting company (architect) and a research institute carried out the study from June 2007 to April 2008.