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Practice Details

Title of Practice:	Promoting Integral Rehabilitation in Castilla y Leon
Year:	2012
BPTag:	Good Practice
Reference Number:	ESP118-12
City / Town / Village:	Castilla y Leon
Region:	Europe & Former Soviet Union States
Country:	Spain
Has this practice been submitted previously?	No
Previous Title:
Address:	Dirección General de Vivienda, Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Consejería de Fomento y Medio Ambiente, Junta de Castilla y León Rigoberto Cortejoso 14 47014 Valladolid Valladolid Spain Telephone: +34983 419410 Fax: +34 983 419411 Web: www.jcyl.es
Name of Contact Person:	Ángel Mª Marinero Pera
Email of Contact Person:	marperan@jcyl.es
Summary:	We submit a proposal for urbanregeneration and rehabililitation of historical and rural areas on a regionalscale, based on a review of practices applied over the last 10 years. TheIntegral Rehabilitation Plan of Castilla y Leon (Plan de RehabilitaciónIntegral de Castilla y León - PRICyL) is designed as a critical evaluationof a consolidated experience. It selects the best experiences and develops anew strategy for the mid-term, pursuing the following objectives: Rural development Intervention in vulnerable rural and urban areas To promote, only, projects with high quality The rehabilitation actions inCastilla y León have been proposed by the local authorities to revitalizedegraded areas and halt the deterioration of the social and urban fabric. Inthe current context of economic difficulties, the regional government iscarrying out an exercise of self-assessment and self-criticism of the procedureapplied in past years with a view to refocusing strategies and approaching moreextensive urban and social goals with an emphasis on those associated with regionalrebalance and urban cohesion. From the experience gained duringthe last years, the regional government has developed an strategicproject/programme for promoting urban preservation and renewal, highlightingthe more positive experiences and confirming its potential as a driving forcefor an ambitious "urban regeneration" project in cities, towns andvillages. It is essential to uphold the urbanhistorical and cultural sites of this region, focusing on the unique featuresof a very large territory with a low population and directing actions at theleast privileged social groups and areas. The PRICyLcomes from the regional experience with the selection of exemplary projectslike: the intervention in “La Judería" in Segovia;“Río Vena", an urban neighborhood in Burgos;and the action called “Tierras del Renacimiento" developed in 3 villagesof Palencia.
Key Dates:	2003- The works of selected interventions began. 2009- Beginning the works of design the PRICyL 2011- Approval of PRICyL
Norminating Organization Details
Name of Organization:	Spanish Habitat Committee
Contact Person:	José Luis NICOLÁS RODRIGO
Type of Organization:	Central Government

Partners:

Name of Organization	Address	Contact Person	Organisation Type	Type of Support
Ministerio de Fomento	Ministerio de Fomento Paseo de la Castellana, 112 28046 Madrid Madrid Spain Web: www.fomento.es	Not provided, Not Provided	Central Government	Financial Support
Oficina Técnica y de Gestión “ARCH Judería”	Judería Vieja 12 40001 Segovia Segovia España	Miguel Ángel Martín Blanco, Not Provided	Technical Experts/Consultants	Financial Support, Technical Support, Administrative Support
Asociación para la Rehabilitación del Polígono “Río Vena”	Paseo de los Comuneros 25 bajo/traseras 09006 Burgos Burgos Spain	Saturnino Saldaña Pampliega, Not Provided	Technical Experts/Consultants	Financial Support, Technical Support, Administrative Support
Consorcio “Tierras del Renacimiento”	Pl. Vallejo Nájera s/n 34300 Paredes de Nava Palencia Spain	Not provided, consorciotierrasdelrenacimiento @hotmail.com	Local Authority	Financial Support, Technical Support, Administrative Support
Instituto Universitario de Urbanística	ETS. de Arquitectura, Avda Salamanca s/n 47014 Valladolid Valladolid Spain	Mario Paris, mario @institutourbanistica.com	Academic/Research	Technical Support

Category
Housing
Technology, Tools and Methods
Urban and Regional Planning

Narrative:

Situation Before the Initiative Began:
The territory of Castilla y León is particularly complex: 94,226 km2, 2248 municipalities (75% with fewer than 500 inhabitants) and 2.5 million inhabitants (27 inhab/km2). Areas for the projects: historical town and city centers; urban neighborhoods with building problems; small towns and villages with deterioration problems and a loss of population.

Establishment of Priorities:

As defined by the regional government on the basis of past practices (almost 60 projects in 52 municipalities), the priorities of the PRICyL are as follows:
- Activating the strategies for the historic preservation: “La Judería" in Segovia is a good example.
- Fostering the renewal of neighbourhoods with difficulties, to improve social and economic structures and avoid their degradation, as in “Río Vena” (Burgos).
-Working in declining rural areas, encouraging projects capable of making further improvements to guarantee an impact on the territory, as in the municipalities of Palencia that make up “Tierras del Renacimiento”.

Formulation of Objectives And Strategies:

The new regeneration strategies in Castilla y León comprise the following:
1. Programming of rehabilitation interventions. Four approaches that characterize define and focus the projects which have been established in accordance with state legislation:
- Integral Rehabilitation and Renovation Areas.
- Projects for the eradication of sub-standard housing and slums.
- Programming of measures for more sustainable development.
-Focusing projects on objectives that include regional rebalance and urban regeneration.
2. Implementation of a criteria system for assessing the best proposals.

Mobilisation of Resources:

The rehabilitation actions in Castilla y León involve various partners: Central Government, Regional Government, Local Authorities and owners. The declaration is made at the request of local authorities and approved by the Regional Government of Castilla y León. After the resolution on the declaration, the projects fall under the qualified financing system as provided in state legislation. The tracking, use and control of public funds are regulated by virtue of pacts and agreements.
The projects are managed by the local offices that act as a link between the administration and citizens. They belong to the local authorities and submit the terms and conditions collect the subsidy applications and propose additional public projects. Integrating and implementing selection criteria as provided in the PRICyL will enable and speed up these procedures.
The administrative procedure has a wealth of experience and is highly effective; however, criteria are needed to establish the objective for interventions and the quality of the project. These objectives have given rise to the PRICyL, which has become a model proposal for rehabilitation and a framework for assessing and tracking the owner’s request.

Process:

The launch of the PRICyL comes at a time of profound crisis in the urban model and real estate sector in Spain. As a result, new alternatives need to be found for urban regeneration and for restoring the value of building heritage. This urban regeneration plan has been drafted as a tool for focusing to the rehabilitation policy of Castilla y León.
It establishes a rigorous and coherent programming system on 4 basic lines and a criteria system for assessing the projects. The basic directives are as follows:
Directive 1. - Integral Rehabilitation and Urban Renovation Areas.
Directive 2. Projects for the eradication of sub-standard housing and slums.
Directive 3. Programming of measures for more sustainable development.
Directive 4. Focusing projects on objectives that include regional rebalance and urban regeneration.
With regard to the criteria used to assess the suitability of the proposals, it suggests:
- The association of the regenerations projects with vulnerable urban areas.
- Inclusion in the intervention areas of the historical sites and residential areas included in the inventories.
- The adaptation of the intervention type and proposed projects to the uniqueness of each case.
- The valuation of the impact made by the regeneration actions on the urban and social environment, together with the fulfilment of specific environmental objectives.
The area selection process begins with the presentation of an initial document that includes information on the area and the projects that are being considered. This will enable an objective assessment of the suitability of the proposed project. When the pre-selection process is complete, the final document is drafted in accordance with the guides and focuses on the following:
oThe association between the integrated actions of rehabilitation and comprehensive projects and plans, appropriately profiled in the strategic objectives.
oThe promotion of integrated management, with defined citizen participation models and the support and collaboration of local partners and the private sector. One reference for success is the management experiences in “La Judería" in Segovia and in “Tierras del Renacimiento" in the province of Palencia.
oThe evaluation of the effects of the proposed projects on the urban regeneration of areas and environments, anticipating results and defining objective-based tracking indicators.

Results Achieved:

Financial:
The resources used in the projects come largely from public funds. Central Government, Regional Government and Local Authorities are the public bodies taking part in the regeneration project and assume a very important part of the budget, a fact that is more relevant in places where social fragility is a significant issue.
Social and Economic:
The socio-economic aspect of the projects can be seen in the work carried out in the degraded quarters of the towns and cities, as is the case of Río Vena, or in rural areas that are in decline. The PRICyL restores the value of this factor and uses it as a reference for selecting the projects, giving priority to municipalities that have lost more than 10% of their population over the last 15 years and assessing the level of unemployment and wealth and the economic profile.
Cultural:
The recovery of the historical heritage of the main cities was the initial purpose of the rehabilitation work, as in “La Judería" in Segovia. The PRICyL considers other issues associated with the rural world and heritage, such as the fact that a municipality belongs to unique historical contexts or the existence of ethnographical heritage in traditional rural buildings.
Environmental:
The work carried out on the buildings has improved citizens' quality-of-life and has also reduced energy consumption (reduction of 25% in the case of the buildings of “Río Vena" in Burgos). Besides a continued commitment to a greater optimization of resources, the PRICyL fosters more sustainable development and puts in place specific projects for implementing measures in saving and energy efficiency.
Institutional:
The PRICyL acknowledges the weak points of the urban regeneration project in Castilla y León and focuses on places whose recovery has a greater social, economic and environmental impact.

Lessons Learned:

Basing urban regeneration and rehabilitation on detailed knowledge of the Autonomous Community and on an accurate analysis. The diversity of urban situations in Castilla y León and their deployment in the territory conditions the actions and strategies that can be used to deal with such different areas in a particular way. Accordingly, the PRICyL focuses on issues such as “the dispersion" of urban centres, the low population density and the sizes of urban and rural centres. The most vulnerable municipalities must be identified in order to focus the project, based on experience in the dispersion of resources.
Existence of an inconsistent tradition of intervention. The rehabilitation has been developed mainly for two reasons: the dependence of public sector finance on the recovery of historical areas and, later, the residential urban areas built fundamentally between 1945 and 1970. In the 1990s and at the beginning of this century, the project focused on recovering the aesthetic value in the case of the historical areas and on improving quality-of-life in the case of the degraded quarters. However, the projects were not given priority on the basis of any qualitative balance. It is necessary to define common lines of action which, in recognition of the particularities of each case, activate the potential for regeneration offered by rehabilitation and extend its objectives.
Value of regeneration as a strategy in the rural environment. The experience gained in the municipalities included in the “Tierras del Renacimiento" project reveals the importance of the rural world. Furthermore, from the housing policy, the PRICyL also contributes to improvements that help local development and territorial planning in the rural environment.

Transfers:

The practice presented is an example of transferability: the urban regeneration experience in the Autonomous Community has been transferred to the Integral Rehabilitation Plan of Castilla y León.
The PRICyL has been based on the analysis and study of the projects carried out in Castilla y León, which includes “La Judería" in Segovia, “Río Vena" in Burgos and “Tierras del Renacimiento" in the province of Palencia, and on new state legislation (State Housing and Rehabilitation Plan 2009-2012). It comes from the initiative of a Regional Administration and is seen as a strategic tool that can be adapted to circumstance and organized as a system of indications used for fulfilling objectives rather than for defining concepts. It comes to strengthen the rehabilitation activity and foster the improvement of dwellings built in the Autonomous Community and it also takes into account the more fragile situations caused by economic, social and heritage conditions. It represents a change of scale in the urban regeneration project from a local, partial vision of the work to a territorial vision that brings in sustainability and coordination.
Its methodology is flexible and does not close doors to rehabilitation in the Autonomous Community. It provides the needs for regeneration based on the valuation of objective conditioning factors and proposes the submission of the projects and development to quality criteria. However, the rehabilitation is not just another action; it must be key to ambitious projects for improving the quality-of-life in the real city, avoiding unsustainable growth.
The preparation of the PRICyL began in 2009 in a difficult economic context in which it was necessary to establish a new framework to maximize resources and select projects that guaranteed the highest quality and impact.
From the beginning, its publication was subject to a period of public information, debate and involvement of the different administrations, professional collectives, neighbourhood associations, trade unions and business organizations, etc.
Even though it has been drawn up with the reality of Castilla y León in mind, the methodology developed in the plan can be transferred to other regions. Besides the particular considerations of the region, there are other objective issues that may be applicable to integral regeneration projects outside this Autonomous Community.

Related Policies:

The PRICyL document hasbeen prepared in accordance with state and regional legislation and from theviewpoint of the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities.

The State Housing and RehabilitationPlan 2009-2012 introduces new issues for integral urban rehabilitation as assumedby the PRICyL. These include the eradication of sub-standard housing and slums,as well as focusing regeneration projects on underprivileged urban quarters (arecommendation that is also made in the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable EuropeanCities).

The Preamble of theRight to Housing Act (Law 9/2010 of the Autonomous Community of Castilla yLeón) provides the requirement for establishing “…the necessary conditions forencouraging the development and rehabilitation of housing in general and socialhousing in particular". The PRICyL makes this encouragement of rehabilitationpossible.

This integral rehabilitation plan corresponds to the objectives andmeasures of the "Regional Sustainable Development Strategy 2009-2012"and the "Regional Strategy against Climate Change 2009-2012" of Juntade Castilla y León, fostering the sustainability of territorial planning, urbanplanning and the construction and use of resources, as well as promoting savingand efficiency in existing buildings.

References:
PRICyL: the document is available in the web: http://www.jcyl.es/web/jcyl/VivivendaUrbanismo/es/
ARCH “La Judería” in Segovia:
Publication title: Área de Rehabilitación del Centro Histórico de la Judería de Segovia. Diario de un barrio renovado
Edited: Oficina ARCH-JUDERIA, Ayuntamiento de Segovia. ISBN:978-84-931589-6-5, Printed June 2010

ARI “Río Vena” in Burgos:
Title of article: El ARI de Río Vena reduce un 25% el consumo de calefacción
Published in local newspaper: Diario de Burgos.es, on december 16, 2011
Title of article: Ejecutada más del 50% de la rehabilitación de Río Vena
Published in local newspaper: GENTE en Burgos nº 346, year 9, February 2006, pag 5.

ARI “Tierras del Renacimiento” in Palencia:
Title of article: “Tierras del Renacimiento” abre una tercera convocatoria hasta diciembre
Published in local newspaper: Diario Palentino Digital, on october 29, 2011

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