Globalization from the Bottom Up
Posted 6th February 2009 18:15pm
“Globalization from the Bottom Up”, The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment’s sixth annual conference, was held on 5th February at St James’s Palace. The conference examined the issues of globalization and identified better ways of meeting the aspirations of the burgeoning urban populations of the Global South and establishing settlements that are liveable, resilient and founded upon local culture and building traditions.
HRH The Prince of Wales, President of The Prince’s Foundation, and Hank Dittmar, Chief Executive, joined speakers from around the world. The speakers all highlighted the importance of distinctive and sensitive development, which respects indigenous culture and tradition and which builds upon and strengthens a sense of place and community. They also demonstrated how this approach creates opportunities, by capitalising upon the strengths and assets of individual communities.
The conference highlighted how and why such an approach works and speakers discussed individual communities which have been successfully revitalised in this way.
Hank Dittmar showed ways in which local identity and adaptation can be respected and serve as foundations for sustainable development. He commented:
“The Prince’s Foundation believes that working with local communities to show the importance and value of place and local particularities, in both new developments and regeneration, can assist revitalisation, whether in rapidly urbanising parts of the Global South or in booming cities. We believe that a sense of place is derived from buildings and public spaces that respect local climate and landscape, embody local history and use local materials, craftsmanship and design. We work with local people to identify these characteristics in order to distil and articulate what I call the “DNA” of a place, so that we can build new places which reflect and replicate that DNA. Our approach seeks to evolve and adapt vernacular design, learning from what has worked well in the past and mixing it with the best the twenty first century can offer.
This conference highlighted communities that followed this approach and show that they tend to be more robust both socially and economically and better equipped to realize a thriving future together.”
One of the results of today’s globalized culture is a growing “architecture of anywhere” which makes everywhere look the same. This is another manifestation of the ways in which vulnerable communities are being cut off from their roots and culture, with the attendant risks of fragmentation and dislocation.
While some might argue that homogeneity is inevitable, The Prince’s Foundation believes that it is possible to meet the needs and aspirations of individual communities in ways that reflect local culture and ways of building.
The Prince’s Foundation also maintains that cultural and social diversity are valuable assets in their own right and are important drivers of opportunity and enterprise. Places with a strong and distinct identity are differentiated, which helps them generate and sustain social and intellectual capital, the bedrock of sustainable development.
With examples from its projects in China, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia and Sierra Leone, and those of its sister charities and like minded organizations, The Prince’s Foundation’s sixth annual conference discussed these issues and presented practical solutions..
