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A large-scale recreational complex dedicated to the dissemination
of science and culture in the city of Valencia
"La
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias" (CAC) - promoted by the
'Generalitat Valenciana' (the Valencian regional government) in
the city of Valencia - began in 1996 as a large-scale complex dedicated
to the dissemination of science and culture. This start was the
culmination of a process of institutional cooperation between the
Generalitat Valenciana and the Valencia City Hall, initiated in
1988 with the General Urban Organization Plan (GUOP).
Geographical,
Economic and Social Context
of the Region and the City
The CAC complex occupies a surface area of some 351,000 square feet
and is 1,800 meters long. Nestled on mostly flat land, the complex
is located on the rightbank of the final stretch of the old Turia
riverbed.
Historically used as farmland, the area has been in continuous decline
since the 1970's due to the indiscriminate occupation of highly
polluting chemical industries as well as by warehouses linked to
activities at the nearby port. This land constituted a fringe area
that was ripe for regeneration and incorporation into the city's
structured development scheme.
Previously,
the area had been practically uninhabited due to its peripheral
location and to its shortage of housing, as well as to the obsolete
and dangerous nature of the industrial activity there. Public
initiatives have consisted of regenerating the area, organizing
it, developing it, and giving it an identity of its own by means
of a new urban "facelift" which served, at the same time,
to infuse new life into the immediate surroundings.
1991 saw the signing of an Urban Development Agreement between the
Generalitat Valenciana and the Valencia City Hall for the management,
programming and development of the tracts of land suitable for building,
the 'Camino de las Moreras I' (the White Mulberry Tree Path I).
This Agreement was the start of the urban development initiative
known as the CIUDAD DE LAS ARTES Y LAS CIENCIAS. The management,
promotion and development have been carried out by CAC, S.A., a
public corporation belonging to the autonomous government which
undertook to tackle the responsibilities of developing the land
by formulating an Urban Development Plan of Action and of carrying
out the planning and building of the complex.
The Urban Development Plan of Action's objectives could be summarized
as aiming for:
- Transformation of the land and development of the city's residual
and interstitial areas, consolidating and lending a finished feel
to outlying neighbourhoods.
- Access for disused land to the process of urban development,
allowing the GUOP's social function to be assured for the benefit
of the public interest.
- Construction of a large urban monument with recreational, cultural
and scientific aims, which would be linked to its environment
by means of all the structural elements associated with urban
development.
- Resolution of the completion of the city's road system, affected
by chaotic and haphazard growth which made adequate communication
difficult between the downtown and the port areas.
- Boosting of the development of adjacent areas, motivating the
private sector to join the process of urban development as envisaged
in the General Plan.
Culture and Globalization
From a qualitative point of view, the CAC is structured around a
prime objective, which is to be beneficial to society. The complex
is a common meeting ground of everyone and for everyone: it is an
open city in which people from all walks of life have a place, regardless
of age, level of education, background or culture.
CAC will improve citizens' quality of life as, in addition to contributing
highly varied cultural and recreational facilities, it will raise
the level of the prestige of Valencia and of the Valencian Region
and, in turn, the levels of participation and self-esteem of its
inhabitants. In terms of its plan and accessibility, the CAC is
open to all cultures and to all people. And nowadays, thanks to
global technologies currently in use, through its architectural
language and its lines of research, the CAC aims to showcase aspects
of the Mediterranean and Valencian cultures.
It is for this reason that as stances produced by trends in migration
and their ensuing clashes with regional cultures are increasingly
radicalized, and in the face of the dilemma between local cultures
and globalization, the CAC has opted for an attitude of openness
and integration. This attitude is precisely the same as that of
the city of Valencia itself, historically open to all positive innovations
and changes produced by such phenomena, while refusing to sacrifice
its willingness to promote and develop its own culture with the
aid of those means available to it in the 21st century.
Plan
The main objective of Valencia's Strategic Plan is stated by the
local government as:
'To make Valencia a green, European city, open to the sea; socially
integrationist and culturally vibrant; the capital and backbone
of the Valencian region and a link between European and peninsular
cities and the Mediterranean, positioned for its industries to be
highly competitive in the international market'.
- The Valencian Region needed a project with an international
scope which could transmit the image of a modern region, be able
to carry out initiatives at the highest level and which, additionally,
would serve to strengthen and complement, through public initiatives,
the region's economic development.
- That the Region needed to complement tourist services which
(until the present and even now very significantly) were focused
almost exclusively on the exploitation of natural elements such
as the climate and sea ('sun and sand tourism') was considered
to be self-evident. Our objective was to offer, in addition to
the aforementioned, tourist facilities that were both cultural
and urban in nature, combining elements of leisure and entertainment
with the promotion of knowledge, culture and science.
With these premises as points of departure, the CAC was born out
of a vision of a modern city at the service of its citizens, built
within a thousand-year-old city such as Valencia. It would place
the city itself and the region of which it is the capital in an
ultramodern position at the forefront of international vitality,
offering services related to art and science along with leisure
and entertainment, making it a point of reference the world over.
Thus, three clear objectives were established:
- To develop culture and the arts in all their manifestations.
- To promote science and the correct use of technology.
- To promote respect for, conservation of and admiration for
nature.
To this end, a sequence of three subsectors were programmed: the
'Palau de les Arts' and Music Conservatory; 'L'Hemisfèric'
(Imax cinema, Planetarium and Laserium), the 'Museo de la Ciencia',
the 'Jardines de L'Umbracle' (sculpture garden) and parking area;
and finally the 'Centro de Ocio' (recreation centre), 'L'Oceanogràfic'
(an ocean park within an underwater city) and a tertiaryhotel area,
all of which linked by a series of walkways and ponds, allowing
for a pedestrian route through the city totalling nearly two kilometres
in length.
Strategy and Results
In order to fulfil the objectives set, an overall plan of action
was drawn up, consisting basically of:
- The development of area-specific urban planning, as represented
by the CAC's Partial Plan and the General Urban Organization Plan,
to work in tandem with the programming of its execution in phases.
- The founding of a public corporation equipped with the legal,
economic and human support needed in order to be able to carry
forward the promotion and management of the complex.
- The design of a recreational, scientific and cultural plan
which would include a variety of social entities along with their
various operational styles, while at the same time featuring target
audience profiles which were diverse but yet united by means of
a sole managerial structure.
- The design of avant-garde architecture, to constitute a worldwide
point of reference and to add significant value to the region's
architectural patrimony. In order to carry this out, the complex
boasts ingenious contributions by internationally renowned Spanish
architects Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela.
- The design of a solid and forward-looking plan to put all components
of the whole into working order and to adequately exploit the
possibilities they offer.
- The programming, over time, of a sequence of openings to the
public of the project's buildings and components.
Opening its doors in 1998, 'L'Hemisfèric'allows visitors
access to three large-scale audiovisual spectacles under the same
roof: the Planetarium, the Imax Dome Cinema and the Laserium, in
addition to a university lecture hall dedicated to education in
astrophysics.
In November of 2000 the 'Museo de las Ciencias', covering some 40,000
square metres and responding to a truly 21st century concept of
museums - that they be live and interactive -- was opened to the
public.
On a parallel, all citizens have at their disposition ample parking
space, free areas constituted by walkways, and a spectacular sculpture
garden called 'L´Umbracle'.
'L´Oceanogràfic' is an underwater city inhabited by
over 500 different biological species, conceived of as a natural
recreational park and as a centre dedicated to education and scientific
research, especially of the Mediterranean marine environment. With
an area of 80,000 square metres and 42 million liters of water,
its inauguration is set for the beginning of 2002.
The 'Palau de les Arts' is set to open to the public at the beginning
of 2003. It will be a multiauditorium of 43,000 square metres which
will house a chamber music hall, the main opera hall, and an open-air
auditorium.
In its immediate surroundings, a sizeable residential area has been
generated with over 5,000 new homes in what had been, until now,
a marginalized area of the city. The price of land has been reassessed,
and is now 15% higher than in other areas of new development. Finally,
public means of transport have increased with the approval of a
new line of city trains, a new long-distance train station in the
vicinity, and new bus lines. With 60% of the initiatives already
completed, expectations regarding urban renewal have been surpassed
by far.
Juan Reig,
City of Arts and Sciences Valencia
Links:
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
http://www.cac.es/
Generalitat Valenciana
http://www.gva.es/jsp/portalgv.jsp?br=1&re=1&chflash=true
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias - Comunitat Valenciana
http://www.comunitat-valenciana.com/castellano/indice/cac.htm
Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
http://www.iespana.es/legislaciones/cac.htm
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