The Office of Comprehensive Management of the Historical City, part of the Urbanism Management of La Laguna City Council, is currently finalising the specifications to initiate bidding, likely within the first half of the year, for the drafting of the Historical City Management Plan. This plan will be segmented into several lots: a strategic and operational plan, the previously mentioned lighting scheme, alongside all aspects related to citizen involvement and communication, as well as a mobility and design strategy for public spaces, according to information from the Urban Planning Management.
Broadly, the aims of this Mobility and Design Municipal Plan for public spaces are to bolster historical identity through communal areas, ensure mobility serves the historical city, and preserve and rejuvenate its public spaces.
“The Management Plan for the Historical City, which will help us comply with the new UNESCO requirements, will encompass two specific plans where we have identified the necessity for specialised tools. They will focus on guaranteeing a vibrant city, in which its significant values are safeguarded for subsequent generations,” stated Adolfo Cordoba, the Councillor for Territorial Planning and Cultural Heritage.
Due to the level of specialisation that each of these aspects entails, he continued, “this division will enable us to address each area of concern in detail and with precision, ensuring more efficient and effective management. These include planning for mobility and the design of public spaces, increasing green areas and enhancing public enjoyment of the city, along with the safe illumination of monuments, buildings, and their surroundings.”
Objectives
Concerning the goals of the Mobility and Design Management Plan for public spaces, the historical identity is reinforced through communal areas, ensuring that all interventions in mobility and public space design respect and enhance the character of the historical city and its environmental zone, preventing modifications that may distort their identity and value, as stated by urbanism authorities.
Another key aim is to ensure mobility serves the historical city, which involves designing a mobility system that prioritises heritage protection, minimising the impact of traffic (CO2 emissions, vibrations, and noise) while promoting pedestrian pathways, public transport, and non-motorised options. This includes regulating and controlling access and parking in the historic centre, optimising urban goods distribution, and minimising visual, acoustic, and structural intrusiveness.
Lastly, it seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the public spaces within the historical city and its environmental zone, ensuring their protection and proper treatment as elements of identity, social cohesion, and venues for gatherings, culture, and recreation. Interventions that encourage social interaction, civic engagement and respect for the historical and cultural integrity of the environment will be prioritised. In this context, the promotion of ephemeral architecture will be encouraged as a flexible approach to temporarily activate these areas, they indicated.
Adolfo Cordoba remarked that the aim of all these plans forming part of the historical city management plan, which spans a decade, is to establish a roadmap agreed upon by all citizens, enabling us to balance the needs of a contemporary city with heritage protection, while preventing gentrification and addressing the challenges identified over 25 years of experience as a city of humanity. The councillor also highlighted that “citizen participation and communication will play a pivotal role and will also be solicited through a specific lot.”
It is important to note that the Historical City Management Plan will serve as a prerequisite necessary to carry out a review of the Special Protection Plan (PEP) for the Historical Site.
