Linking culture to urbanism… launching a guide to culture and arts in the urban landscape
Under the patronage of His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Minister of Culture On Monday, the Ministry of Culture launched a guide at the Diriyah Center for Future Arts "Culture and arts in Urban landscape"To be a national reference supporting those concerned with planning and implementing cultural interventions in public spaces, improving the urban landscape, and enhancing the quality of life in the Kingdom’s cities, thus contributing to achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 related to culture and urban lifestyle.
This came in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Culture, Hamid bin Muhammad Fayez, and the Deputy Minister of Municipalities and Housing, Ihab Ghazi Al-Hashani.
Landmarks that live in memory and place
The Deputy Minister of Culture gave a speech. His Highness the Minister of Culture on his behalf during the ceremony, stressing that the evidence of culture and arts in the urban scene "It comes as a result of the integrated partnership between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, to chart a practical path for cultural activations in public spaces in the cities of the Kingdom."
He added: "Our cities carry a memory that includes public spaces that have many meanings at their core, and these spaces can be transformed into living experiences that build the relationship between a person and his surroundings, and work to transform the place into a destination, a story, and a creative space, by enhancing its aesthetic value, and transforming cultural interventions into valuable landmarks that live in memory and place."
The Deputy Minister of Culture thanked the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing for this partnership, stressing that this partnership is… "As a reflection of a shared belief that culture grows in cooperation and flourishes in integration, to build an urban landscape that is more vibrant, closer to humanity, and more eloquently an expression of the culture of the place."
Redefining urban planning
The Deputy Minister of Municipalities and Housing delivered a speech by the Minister of Municipalities and Housing in which he affirmed that "The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 came with a comprehensive vision for the city, a city that balances function and beauty, efficiency and spirit, and economic growth and quality of life."
He added: "From this standpoint, the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing worked to redefine urban planning, to be a plan that puts people first, and deals with public spaces, not as neglected spaces, but as opportunities for interaction, belonging, and cultural expression."
He added: "Today, with the launch of the Guide to Culture and Arts in the Urban Scene, we move from idea to method, from desire to tool, and from initiative to sustainability.".
He pointed out that "This guide is not a technical guidance booklet, nor just a regulatory document, but rather a conscious national framework that links culture and urbanism, gives cities a language with which to express themselves, and gives people a space in which they feel that the place resembles them."
He added: "This guide was designed to be practical, flexible, and applicable in various regions of the Kingdom, while respecting the specificity of each city, its cultural diversity, and its architectural character. The guide provides municipalities, planners, and practitioners a clear path for how to integrate arts and culture into streets, squares, parks, and city entrances, in a way that enhances identity, enriches the urban experience, and creates a sustainable human impact.".
He confirmed that this work is coming "The result of true institutional integration with the Ministry of Culture, and a sincere expression of a shared belief that culture is not a separate sector, but rather a pillar of quality of life, and a fundamental driver of vibrant cities."
Cultural Interventions in Public Places
The guide provides a practical, step-by-step approach to implementing cultural interventions in public spaces, starting with understanding the community and place, through choosing the appropriate cultural intervention for the place, all the way to the implementation stage and measuring the impact, ensuring that projects are aligned with the identity of the place and the needs of its users, and transforming public spaces and squares into living spaces that reflect the community’s identity and engage its members through art and culture.
The guide targets secretariats, municipalities, and authorities. development projects, major projects, and practitioners from the relevant cultural sectors, by providing them with a set of guidelines, tools, and models that contribute to unifying the methodology for working on cultural interventions in public spaces, and enabling entities to integrate culture and arts into projects to develop parks, streets, squares, squares, and other open areas in Saudi cities.
Stimulating community participation
The guide seeks to stimulate community participation, and enable culture to reach everyone, by providing a wider space for participation. Neighborhood residents, visitors, and artists in designing and activating cultural interventions in the public space.
The work on preparing the guide came through integration between the cultural system, the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing system, and the parties related to the urban scene. Several pilot projects were also launched in cooperation with the Royal Commission for the City of Riyadh, the King Fahad National Library, and the Municipality of Medina, to plan and implement a number of artistic and cultural works in public spaces.
The guide to culture and arts in the urban scene will be made available via a specialized digital platform. On the Ministry of Culture’s website, it includes a copy of the guide in Arabic and English, supporting explanatory materials, and examples of best practices that can be referred to when developing projects, provided that the Ministry continues to share updates and case studies related to the application of the guide in the cities of the Kingdom during the coming stages.
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