New networks for the old Paradise

• New networks for the old Paradise

Project description

This work tries to propose a solution to the spoil of the lost “paradises” located in tropical climates that are still left all over the planet. For a few years it is taking place an exponential degradation of the natural environments related to these paradises and the situation seems to be irreversible if we don’t act immediately. We can find the reasons for this devastation in the models of tourist exploitation established all over the planet in name of the globalization, capitalism and the common market. These big tourist resorts appear in countries with an incipient urban planning. These areas should be declared as protected regions for their great ecological value. But they are unprotected and are sold for a residual value. The investment is mostly foreign and the repercussion at an economic level for the receiving country is very low. This system is very dangerous because it creates a strong economic dependence from foreign investors. Usually these resorts concentrate in a specific area far from the native villages. Temporary cells of native workers grow close to them. There, the employees of these hotels live far from their families and work more than 15 hours a day. Besides, these resorts destroy mangrove areas, coral reefs and all natural ecosystems, buildings don’t respect the limit distances to the littoral and the constructive systems, the techniques and materials are imported of the country of origin, so they are completely different from the native construction systems. The LANDSCAPE drifts into artificial. The uncontrolled growth of cities or concentration of hotels generates a loss of the city-planning quality and a urban collapse. This also leads to the creation of isolated bags of local population with no services or endowments. The transport infrastructures are overcharged and create pollution problems. 

Such a complex problematic can only be solved through a coordinated intervention at different levels: ETHICAL, ECONOMICAL, JURIDICAL AND TERRITORIAL.

We must work in a NET and understand that problems and SOLUTIONS are transversal. We propose a network instead of linear or punctual actions.  

At urban scale the solution comes from opened procedures. We must give continuity to the urban planning and don’t generate unconnected areas. Also, to preserve the landscape we must promote the public management of natural resources, to avoid their gradual degradation and overexploitation.

At a Cognitive level we must recover the positive perception on the phenomenon of tourism, for receivers and travelers. It’s important to foment the cultural interchange and to prevent traditions and customs from degenerating into artificial elements of marketing.

 

Tourism is a powerful tool of development, but requires ensuring the sustainability of resources. We must promote a sustainable tourism:

“Those tourist activities respectful with the natural, cultural and social environment, and with the values of a community, that allows enjoying a positive interchange of experiences between residents and visitors, where the relationship between the tourist and the community is fair and the benefits of the activity are distributed equally, and where the visitors have a truly participatory approach in their travel experience”.

As ARCHITECTS and URBAN PLANNERS we consider necessary to promote the dissemination and application of these values.

It’s a GLOBAL-wide problem and the solution must also be global.

 

Technical data