Pride of Place in Norwich

From: In Focus: Finding the Spirit of Place

On 6 March 2008 ICOMOS-UK put on a one-day workshop at the recently restored medieval merchant’s hall called Dragon Hall in Norwich.

‘Norwich HEART: People and Places‘ was organised by the ICOMOS-UK Cultural Tourism Committee of and was the third and last in a series of workshops dedicated to ‘Finding the Spirit of Place‘. The previous two workshops were held in Canterbury (2007) and York (2006) and an e-publication about these, together with Norwich, will be produced soon and form part of this feature.

Sue Millar, Chair of the Cultural Tourism Committee, chaired the workshop where representatives from independent, regional, national and international organisations came to talk about how they have approached this idea and why they felt heritage had an important role to play in creating feelings of pride in place and also how it could be used to develop sustainable cultural tourism.

The accompanying short film: People and Places in Norwich shows some of the highlights from the workshop, focusing on Norwich as a case-study. We are very grateful to boilerhouse.co.uk who filmed the event and helped edit the film.

At the heart of Norwich

Related document: Programme for Norwich HEART: People and Places (link to document viewer)

Norwich is a surprising city. Its clean, well-appointed city-centre streets give away the care with which its authorities and communities have used a pride in its history to promote a positive sense of place.

Norwich is certainly an exemplar to other similar cities and this was very much central to the message of Mike Loveday’s, CEO of Norwich HEART (Heritage, Economic and Regeneration Trust), talk. The city’s medieval history and heritage is emphasised and formed the basis of much of the work undertaken by Norwich HEART since the last three years.

Dragon Hall itself was “one man’s expression” Norwich’s great success as the centre of a major textile producing region during the high and later Middle Ages. This is the kind of pride in place that Norwich HEART and others work to recreate.

There is often a misconception among planners and developers that heritage and conservation is a barrier to modernising and developing an urban environment. Loveday argued that this more a problem of perception than reality and the benefits of informing economic and environmental development are not proven well enough, especially to local people.

The showcase of achievements presented by Mike Loveday demonstrated how Norwich HEART has sought both to promote Norwich as a ‘heritage city’ with its ‘great and good’ (Norwich is the only English city in the World League of Historic Cities) as well as use its heritage ‘assets’ to generate much needed income for the city. Over the last three years it is estimated that with an investment of £495,007, a return of £16,676,498 was brought in to the local economy.

National and regional contexts

If it is the role of local independent organisations like Norwich HEART to find the investment and manage the returns of heritage-led regeneration, then it is up to regional and national agencies to make sure their policies are in keeping with a general desire to retain heritage as a central part of local economic and social regeneration.

According to a DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) survey called Taking Part (December 2007), more than 70% of respondents said they had visited an historical building or site. The Historic Environment sector ‘out-performed’ all other sectors including sport.

While it is noted that the definition of an ‘historic environment site’ was open to interpretation by those surveyed, it is this kind of information that is important for practitioners such as Harry Reeves, Head of Architecture and Historic Environment Division, DCMS, to ensure that heritage is always kept at the forefront of the national political agenda. People’s historic environments are clearly important to them and DCMS say they wish to stimulate civic engagement and pride to make localities more pleasant and sustainable places to live and visit.

Graham Long, Head of Culture, Tourism and Sport, EEDA (East of England Development Agency), asked the question: ‘Where does heritage-led regeneration fit in to regional development?’

Culture and heritage are important factors in attracting businesses to locate to a particular area or region. There is evidence that businesses chose places for its skills, knowledge and creativity which is usually linked to a good sense of place. They want to situate themselves with other creative people.

Long counselled that the wider public benefits of heritage are difficult to present. It requires government to be engaged and for organisations with a vested interest in heritage to present evidence-based and well-structured arguments for its importance to society. It is impossible to put a value on tourism and culture. Rather, we need to demonstration interventions: what do economic decision-makers get in return? How do we take it beyond rhetoric? He suggests these elements may go some way to helping us present our cases more effectively:

• Economic benefits – quantifying jobs
• Use of case-studies – where it has worked before
• Impact on people – innovation, and how changes have been received
• Present with confidence

Case-studies: engaging local communities

Steve Shaw and Aylin Orbasli, both members of the ICOMOS-UK Cultural Tourism Committee, presented case-studies for comparison with the Norwich experience. Steve Shaw demonstrated how the tourism boom in many parts of, especially ex-Soviet, Europe has caused some measure of disenfranchisement in local communities and their connection with place. Talinn is a notable example where historic buildings are hot property. There have been instances of local people being pushed out of their home areas so property developers can take advantage of the tourism boom.

Therefore the aspiration to improve the quality of life of local people requires a shared commitment. Spreading the benefits of cultural tourism is crucial.

Returning to an example closer to home, Shaw highlighted the initiatives undertaken at Sutton House in Hackney, London. Community engagement was indeed crucial for the building’s survival in the public realm. The local community was also at the heart of its interpretation and for its continued appreciation and use. A peaceful haven in an often troubled place.

Aylin Orbasli continued to emphasise the fundamental importance of engaging local people if cultural tourism is to be both mutually beneficial and sustainable. Giving examples from places as diverse as a run-down suburb of Istanbul, the area of Vieux Lyon in France, the renaissance walled-city of Nicosia (Cyprus) and Montreal in Canada, she illustrated the various ways in which heritage-led and place-centred regeneration were successful.

In Istanbul, the local community was at first skeptical – why should they restore their houses? It was local traders who saw the potential of regeneration earlier than others.

This was not a tourism niche, it was serving local needs first. In Nicosia, a joint project between Turkish and Greek parties to restore the walled city created benefits on both sides. Córdoba is a World Heritage Site Management Plan exemplar. It is a simple partnership between regional, not central, authorities. Importantly, residents maintain their own space and are not part of the tourist attraction.