scholarly journals Elevating Cultural Preservation Projects into Urban Regeneration: A Case Study of Bahrain’s Pearling Trail

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6629
Author(s):  
Haifa Tawfeeq Naseeb ◽  
Jongoh Lee ◽  
Heejae Choi

The island of Muharraq in the Kingdom of Bahrain was previously in a state of socioeconomic disrepair and neglect, until the nine years-long “Pearling Trail” project revived the area. Historically, Muharraq’s importance inheres in it being the main trade center of the Middle East since the Mesopotamian period, especially as the source of the finest pearls in the world. However, the discovery of oil that led to the rapid urbanization of the region and Japan perfecting the production of cultured pearls had meant that Muharraq dwindled out of cultural significance. Due to the residents’ dissatisfaction and nostalgia for the island’s past glory, along with the government’s new policies towards cultural preservation, the “Pearling Trail” Project commenced in 2012. The Ministry of Culture of Bahrain repaired, renovated and preserved an area of 3.5 km, transforming it into an eco-museum with a thriving business and cultural community. The transformation of the island elevated the city into a trendy local attraction, hosting local and global cultural festivals and events, owing to the “Pearling Trail’s” Urban Regeneration Project’s success. By studying the “Pearling Trail” three success factors are identified: Project expansion beyond UNESCO preservation requirements, focus on sustainability and continuous use, and improved access to culture and cultural opportunities. Identifying these factors could allow for future preservation projects in Bahrain or elsewhere to be upgraded for urban regeneration or revitalization.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Miriam R. Aczel ◽  
Karen E. Makuch

This case study analyzes the potential impacts of weakening the National Park Service’s (NPS) “9B Regulations” enacted in 1978, which established a federal regulatory framework governing hydrocarbon rights and extraction to protect natural resources within the parks. We focus on potential risks to national parklands resulting from Executive Orders 13771—Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs [1]—and 13783—Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth [2]—and subsequent recent revisions and further deregulation. To establish context, we briefly overview the history of the United States NPS and other relevant federal agencies’ roles and responsibilities in protecting federal lands that have been set aside due to their value as areas of natural beauty or historical or cultural significance [3]. We present a case study of Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) situated within the Bakken Shale Formation—a lucrative region of oil and gas deposits—to examine potential impacts if areas of TRNP, particularly areas designated as “wilderness,” are opened to resource extraction, or if the development in other areas of the Bakken near or adjacent to the park’s boundaries expands [4]. We have chosen TRNP because of its biodiversity and rich environmental resources and location in the hydrocarbon-rich Bakken Shale. We discuss where federal agencies’ responsibility for the protection of these lands for future generations and their responsibility for oversight of mineral and petroleum resources development by private contractors have the potential for conflict.


Author(s):  
Dinh Thi Thanh Van ◽  
Nguyen Thuc Trang

Financial inclusion and startup are two topics, which recently get attention of academic researchers and policy makers in Vietnam. One of the important factors for setting up a successful startup is the financial capability of the owners. Therefore, financial inclusion has a strong correlation with startup establishment. This article tested the effects of several factors in financial index (findex) developed by World Bank on startup establishment in some OECD countries. The result showed that borrowing from friends and relatives along with from credit institutions and opening a debit account at banks have  significant impacts on startup establishment in these countries. Finally, the article presented several recommendations for policy makers to stimulate the startup growth in Vietnam in the next time. Key words startup, financial inclusion, startup establishment References 1. Colman Msoka (2015), “Financial inclusion and microfinance in Tanzania”, Inclusive growth: Tanzania Country Report2. Endeavor-GEM, 2011, “High-Impact Entrepreneurship Global Report”3. Eric Ries, 2012, “The Lean Startup” book”, http://www.stpia.ir/files/The%20Lean%20Startup%20.pdf 4. European Startup Monitor, 2015, “European Startup Monitor 2015”, http://europeanstartupmonitor.com/fileadmin/presse/download/esm_2015.pdf 5. Jennifer Dahlin Ivarsson (2014), “Mobile-banking and entrepreneurship: Is there a link? A case study on South Africa”, Nationalekonomiska Institutionen, Box 7082, ISSN 0283 – 15896. Maher Al-Mahouq (2010), “Success factors of small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs): The case of Jordan”, Anadol University jourmal of social sciences, Cilt/Vol.: 10 – Say/No:1-16 (2010)7. Mohammed S.Chowdhury (2013), “Success factors of entrepreneurs of small and medium sized enterprises: Evidence from Banladesh”, Business and Economic Research, ISSN 2162 – 4860, 2013, Vol.3, No.2.8. OECD, 2015, “Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2015”9. Roman Angela, 2011, “SME’s sector access to finance: An overview”10. Yao Wang, 2014, “What are the biggest obstacles to growth of SMEs in developing countries? An empirical evidence from an enterprise survey”, JED 210 Paper


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Maria Colavitti ◽  
Sergio Serra

Abstract In Europe, the debate on the recovery of the historic centres has been developed, over the years, around the balance between conservation and transformation needs in order to meet the new demands of the contemporary world. In the field of urban planning, the strictly conservative and binding approach has gradually been supported by flexible and consensual mechanisms that act as a stimulus to private initiative in the redevelopment and regeneration of the historic urban landscape. The consolidated Italian experience in the policies for the protection and enhancement of historical settlements is being significantly innovated after the entry into force of the Urbani Code, which extends the character of landscape heritage to the historic urban fabric, transferring to the regional authorities the task of establishing the specific regulations for its use and transformation. The Region of Sardinia has achieved an important role in the implementation of policies for the recovery and redevelopment of the historic centres identified by the Regional Landscape Plan (RLP). The common and consolidated practice is still characterized by the use of traditional regulative instruments, in particular the detailed plan, which provide rules for the requalification of the compromised urban fabrics through a set of rules and guidelines to be applied to the replacement of recent buildings and the renovation of urban patterns that for density, ratios between solids and voids, heights, alignments and elevations are incompatible with the values of the context. The constraint and binding approach is effective in the conservation strategies but often inadequate to implement actions of integrated redevelopment of urban fabric altered by new buildings in contrast with the historic urban landscape features, also due to the global crisis situation and the shortage of public funding. The paper proposes the use of the non-financial compensation tool, based on the granting of bonus development rights to realising on site or in alternative locations, in order to encourage urban regeneration projects that also involve the replacement of buildings incompatible with historical urban landscape morphological patterns. The integration of a methodology for assessing the financial feasibility of the demolition and reconstruction of the incompatible structures in the planning process, as tested in the case study of Villasor municipality, has allowed the elaboration of a model to support the use of a compensation mechanism for the redevelopment of historical settlement values. In this perspective, the paper aims to investigate the opportunities provided by market-oriented and flexible approaches to support and promote private urban regeneration projects. In particular, it illustrates the experimental results of a methodology for the analysis of the urban fabric that takes into account the factors influencing the feasibility of the intervention of demolition and reconstruction of the incompatible buildings. Finally a model for the assessment of any bonus in terms of additional building capacity is suggested, to be granted to private operators as an incentive to ensure the cost-effectiveness of the project.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 490
Author(s):  
Yan-Feng He ◽  
Chie-Peng Chen ◽  
Rung-Jiun Chou ◽  
Hai-Feng Luo ◽  
Jin-Xiong Hou

Over generations, economic development has accelerated traditional settlements in Taiwan while losing traditional culture. In Hakka villages, this is manifested in the changes in defensive spaces, the ‘spirit of place,’ and land use. Although some progress has been made through research into related issues, a correlated view has been missing. To explore the connection between the ‘spirit of place’ and defensive spaces in Wugoushui, a traditional representative settlement in Taiwan, this paper probes three questions: What are the changes in defensive spaces? What are the changes in the spirit of place? What are the connections between them? Taking the sixteen criteria of secure defensive space as the theoretical foundation, through more than a year of structured observations and in-depth interviews with ten representative residents, and based on context analysis and site analysis of the information collected, this paper has concluded that, although the actual functionality of Wugoushui settlement’s spiritual, behavioural, and physical defences have disappeared, cultural characteristics related to the settlement traditions, including religious beliefs, trust, sense of belonging, street network, nodes, institutions, territory, and social networks, constitute a concrete manifestation of the defensive space and the spirit of place as of today. This research contributes to developing a theory of the relevance of the spirit of place to the defensive space of settlements from a sustainability perspective and improving the cultural preservation and land management of traditional settlements.


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