Official Policy and Acts of Cultural Resistance

2020 ◽  
pp. 155-173
Author(s):  
Robert J. Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Official Policy

Provincia di Belluno. Tracce di contemporaneità / Province of Belluno. Traces of contemporaneity

ARCHALP ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 174-179
Author(s):  
Francesca Bogo
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Unesco World Heritage ◽  
Regulatory Constraints ◽  
Landscape Quality ◽  
Historical Heritage ◽  
Contemporary Architecture ◽  
And Diffusion

The Province of Belluno is home of great human and landscape quality and of the beautiful Dolomites, UNESCO World Heritage. How experiences of contemporary architecture fit and how are promoted in this context? It can be said that contemporary architecture does not attract a big audience. This is despite the constant efforts by various bodies and associations to promote its diffusion and development through competitions, conferences, workshops and case studies. In the Belluno region, apart from the extraordinary extant historical heritage, there are widespread examples of new architecture known as “false alpine models” or architecture that has erroneously become typical of the Province’s image. This is the reason why this new architecture with its range of peculiarities is widely reiterated, from north to south of the area. Even though buildings of this type lack any real ties with history or tradition, they find widespread approval by institutions and commissions. They are the result of repetitive practices deriving from constraints imposed by local regulations and a limited aptitude in the use of contemporary language of architecture. Even if the barometer of the vitality of contemporary architecture in the region of Belluno is rather lukewarm, dampened by cultural resistance and by regulatory constraints affecting its growth and diffusion, there is no lack of experiences, initiatives and achievements. The latter is evidence of the fact that where research and the use of contemporary languages are accompanied by the opinions of enlightened patrons, good architecture is born, which find space in the arena of national and international architectural debate. Examples of good architecture, even though limited in number, are distributed across the Province and constitute heritage and the focus for promoting and consolidating the growth and dissemination of contemporary architecture throughout the area.

scholarly journals Goudplevieren en Wilsterflappers: Eeuwenoude Fascinatie voor Trekvogels [Golden Plovers and Wilsternetters: A Century-old Fascination for Migratory Birds]

The Auk ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 124 (2) ◽  
pp. 728-729
Author(s):  
Kim van der Linde
Keyword(s):  
Migratory Birds ◽  
Subjective Assessments ◽  
Official Policy ◽  
The Individual

Abstract The following critiques express the opinions of the individual evaluators regarding the strengths, weaknesses, and value of the books they review. As such, the appraisals are subjective assessments and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or any official policy of the American Ornithologists' Union.

The visions and strategies of the GCC countries from the perspective of reforms: the case of Qatar

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
ʿAlī Khalīfa Al-Kuwārī
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
Foreign Firms ◽  
Arab Population ◽  
Permanent Residence ◽  
Official Policy ◽  
Explicit Mention ◽  
Vision 2030

The countries of the Arab Gulf have witnessed a wave of production of ‘national’ strategies and ‘vision’ initiatives, most of which have been developed by foreign firms and consultants, and many of which were drafted in English. Two examples of these that form the basis of analysis of this article are the Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV) issued in 2008 and followed up by the Qatar National Developmental Strategy 2011–2016 (QNDS) in 2011. Neither document was subjected to public referendum, and many of those directly involved in Qatar's central planning were unable even to obtain copies until after publication in final form. Both are problematic for reason of vague or undefined terms, lack of concrete goals, as well as any explicit mention of political development in the country. Even more serious is the question of citizenship, where the huge expatriate populations and permanent residence concessions granted on the basis of ownership of real estate threaten to undermine Arab Qatari identity – a situation aggravated further when English was made the official language of instruction in education and a primary language of administration. This latter development also had the effect of dwindling participation of Qatari citizens in the labour force – already low at 14% in 2001 – to a mere 6% in 2009. The article examines four major deficiencies inherent in Qatar in light of the QNV and QNDS: economic–productive, labour force, political and security. Of these, mention of the political deficiency is conspicuously absent from both documents (where there is not a single mention of terms such as ‘democracy’, ‘citizenship’ or ‘elections’) and both the labour force and economic–productive deficiencies are addressed in terms more relevant and favourable to foreign concerns than those of native Qataris. In the final analysis, both the QNV and QNDS are reflective of Qatar's severe demographic anomaly where the number of Qatari citizens was estimated to be only 230,000 out of a total population of 1.64 million in 2010; and official policy in terms of both the labour market and the granting of permanent residence on the basis of unregulated foreign purchases of real estate and investment only serves to perpetuate an already precarious situation. If Qatar is unable to restructure and reform its policies to the benefit of the indigenous Arab population, the matter of identity and the future character of the country threaten to be matters of serious doubt by the end date of the QNV in 2030, if not well before then.

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