The 12th World “Lead-off City” Conference in Tsuyama was the first large international conference for us. The representatives came from cities and towns, both domestic and international, in which they have engaged in promoting in the city’s development. They came from Santa Fe (USA), Leiden (the Netherlands), Versailles (France), Takayama (Gifu Pre.), Tsuwano (Shimane Pre.) as well as Tsuyama.
   Under the them of “City/town development utilizing historical assets”，each representative had the presentation of their effort and had also the panel discussion after that．As English was simultaneously translated into Japanese at the conference，participants were able to listen to every words by earphone．

Unified Santa Fe Style buildings in the landscape zone
Mayor of Santa Fe Larry A．Delgado


 

   Santa Fe is located in the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains and boasts ａ picturesque scenery．We have historic assets fairly blended with three cultures；native American，Spanish and colonial or pioneer day’s art，and 40 percent of our city revenue comes from the tourism industry．
   We enacted the ordinance of the Historic Style Regulation in 1957 and buildings in that zone are integrated in Santa Fe Style．This is the superb fusion of native American and Spanish art．The distinctive buildings feature decorated exteriors and roundish corners.
   We have ５historic zones which occupy 20 percent of the city and have more than ６thousands designated buildings in it．We could say Santa Fe has been almost what it had been 100years before．We are making ａ more attractive city having an ordinance to assist in historical preservation．
 

Reanimating our heritage

Mayor of Lieden  Henri J.J.Lenferink

   

   Lieden is ａ city planted along a tributary of the Rhine in the western part of the Netherlands． The City streetscape traces back to the 16th century’s one． The city hall Ｉ work in is a building from the 16th century and the oldest castle was built 1,000 years before．

 Once we preferred modernity or utility to preservation or quality of historical assets and demolished many beautiful buildings for the construction of roads．As we have noticed the historical heritage was ａ priceless asset for us，so the city development utilizing our heritage is our core objective．

   We opened a new shopping mall and built ａ big concert hall recently．We took care of preserving the traditional atmosphere during constructing，naturally not spoiling the historic atmosphere but harmonizing with it．

   And moreover，feasts and historic events enrich the charm and development of our city，and the historic Lieden is coming alive again．

 

Development chance with historic and artistic heritage

Vice Mayor of Versailles St?phanne BUFFETAUT

　

   Versailles is located southwest of Paris and at the center of the city lies Versailles Palace，ａ World Heritage Site．Our two main objectives are tourism and the invitation of high-technology industries to our city．

 As Versailles is near to Paris，many tourists leave to Paris soon after sightseeing．That is our worry．Wishing their longer stay and more shopping in our city，we have held some events，such as horse riding show and drama performance and also have been striving for better public relations．

   As for other industries，we wish to invite service industries and high-technology industries，by exploiting the advantage of the better-known name of Versailles．
   Versailles is the city not only recollecting history but also accommodating to active life．

 

The basic idea of the city development originates in residents cordiality

Mayor of Takayama Mamoru Tsuchino

 
　

   Takayama，main cities of the Hida area，preserves the historic streetscape featuring traditional houses which have specific span roof with gentle slopes．No electric wire is seen on the street as it is set under the eaves．The unified and fine atmosphere has fascinated tourists．

   The basic idea of the city development originates in the enthusiasm of residents who want to preserve the historic view and streetscape．Being Visitor-Friendly is ingrained among residents．Under this hospitality，more and more tourists have visited Takayama as ａ hometown in their mind．

   We are promoting“City of Welfare and Tourism”or“Barrier-Free City”； that is a comfortable city for both residents and tourists．
   Takayama is going to be a very big city as same space as Tokyo in Japan，merging with neighboring towns next February．We are boastful of superb tourism resources，such as Japanese Northern Alps，Okuhida（or Hida out of the way）hot springs spa and so on．


 

Preservation of landscape adjusting to the environmental change

Mayor of Tsuwano Iwao Nakashima

  

   Tsuwano，“the little Kyoto of Sanin region”，is located on the border of Yamaguchi Prefecture and a castle town．The traditional streetscape，the heron dance which came down from Kyoto hundreds of years before and yabusame （the horseback archery）are well-known to tourists．

   The turning point of the development was the advent of the tourism boom of 1970ｓ in Japan．A rustic castle town surrounded with mountains was unexpectedly jammed with lots of tourists and residents got into a panic how to treat them．In order to correspond this confusion，we have enacted “the City Landscape Preservation Regulation”．

   Tourists now can stay a long time and enjoy themselves Tsuwano as we have built an art museum and a michino eki，or road station which had a hot bath affiliated with it．We also prepared a bus following a circular rout．We are making efforts to lay electric wire under the ground and to enlarge the green zone．We are making use of the historic assets of course．


 

“Co-creation and co-work”by residents and the local administration

Mayor of Tsuyama Yosinobu Nakao

 

 

   This year(2004) marks 400 years since Mori Tadamasa，first lord to Tsuyama in feudal times，began construction of the castle．Many commemorative projects have been held by residents．For instance，an outstanding one is restoration of the magnificent Bichu-yagura，or watchtower which is now under construction．

   In the Joto（literal meaning；east to the castle）area，we have a street about 1.2 kilometers long in which some traditional merchants and store houses go together with modern ones．We have noted the era among those houses，from Edo（feudal period）to early Syowa（1930s）．

   In the Josai（literal meaning；west to the castle）area，we have “the Fair of Josai Area Museum“held in the autumn by community members．They are making use of historic assets so as to hand over the tradition to the next generation．

   We are cooperatively promoting the city’s development on the motto of “co-creation and co-work” by residents and the local administration．“Life consistent with preservation”and “Life utilizing historic assets”are our basic idea of city development．

Panel Discussion

 

Coorinator

  Morio Mese   Mimasaka University President        

Assistant

　Kazuyuki Kiryu   Mimasaka University Assistant professor 

Panelists

　Larry A. Delgado    Mayor of Santa Fe　　　　　

　Mamoru Tsuchino   Mayor of Takayama

　Henri J.J. LENFERLINK   Mayor of Leiden　　

　Iwao Nakashima   Mayor of Tsuwano　

　Stephane BUFFETAUT   VIce-mayor of Versaills　　

　Yoshinobu Nakao   Mayor of Tsuyama


Mese: Santa Fe is a historic and political city.  Besides, it is a city of difference as the

mayor explained.  Leiden is a university city and　Versailles is a city of tourism and

service industry.  Turning now to Japanese cities, Takayama, Tsuwano and Tsuyama, each of them has 400-year history.  Takayama has a population of 67,000 and has 3,000,000 visitors a year.
   It is a typical city of tourism.  Tsuwano has a population of 6,000 and 1,200,000

tourists visit the city a year.  This is a city of tourism, too.  Tsuyama has a population

of 90,000 and the number of tourists is about 500,000.  It is a city of commerce.  If

Tsuyama castle remained, the city could be a city of tourism.
   I have two questions for this panel discussion: how do you utilize historical assets for

your city’s development? ; what do you need to do to carry on this work?  I would like to

ask you about future plans, too.


Delgado: 40% of our gross receipt comes from tourism.  I think what is important is holding

on to the history of our city and also holding on to the culture of our city.  Visitors see

intertwining cultures are living there.  This is one of the things they see first: how

cultures live together, how the architecture and buildings have survived over many years.
   What we need to do in the future is continue to cultivate the tourism in the city.  It

creates more jobs for people who live there.  The city continues to hold its position as

historic place to visit.  The city continues to hold the reputation of cultures be able to

live together over many centuries.

Tsuchino: Our city, Takayama, is a good example of a tourist resort where has succeeded in utilizing historical assets.  It has had a heyday already and we need to take steps for

further advance.  Our city, fortunately, is designated as Important Preservation Districts

for Groups of Historic Buildings in Japan.  By preserving and restoring these assets, we

will be able to make better use of them as new tourist attractions.  Moreover, we have to

make our city easy to walk around for the old and the disabled.  We are going to create a “

barrier-free” designed city.

Lenferink: I think that historic assets in the city are a part of our identity, therefore

very important for people of the city.  It’s what people love.  It makes it worthwhile to

live in surrounding residential areas as well as the center itself.  We think that the

historic center is an important selling point for the city.  You can further tourism with

it.  It is also interesting for new firms when we try to attract them to buy buildings in

the city.  We have plans to improve further the quality of the inner city.  We try to make

better use of historic surroundings as well as to organize lots of activities.
 
Nakashima:  We have been preserving tangible historical assets, because if we maintain them completely, many visitors can come and see them all year around.  We need to make better use of intangible historical assets along with tangible ones as tourist attractions.  Now, we try to attract tourists to our town by combining contemporary culture with cultural

heritage. 

Buffetaut:  We, Versailles, owns very wealthy and highly protected legacies.  They are

protected not only by the French State but also by UNESCO.  The city is going to convene

tourists to stay and visit the city as well as the palace and the garden.  We encourage new

cultural activities like our theatre and festival.
   We encourage companies to settle in Versailles.  What is the main interest of a company

comes to Versailles is, I think, the name [of Versailles] or the address.  We raise the fame

of the name.  It is a good way to attract enterprises and firms.

Nakao: For the age to come, I have two tasks in mind; utilizing historical assets and

culture, and developing human resources. Nurturing citizen’s love of their historical

assets and culture is necessary to nurture their love for their home district. I‘d like to develop Tsuyama as a peaceful and stately city, utilizing its history and culture. To achieve this, I’d like to set the following goal, the society where people think together, work together and create together.’

Mese: Could you share your visions on how to utilize the historical assets of your cities?

Delgado: I believe that the population of Santa Fe City will continue to increase. I’d like

to make our city more attractive so that people wish to live there.

Tsuchino: We have ‘the Vision of Walking City.’ By this, we aim at developing a city where

people can ruminate about the ancient times while walking around the city.

Lenferink: We’d like to call Leiden City ‘the Town of Discovery and Knowledge’, which

offers tourists what they expect.

Nakashima: While cherishing old things, we are going to create new things, which have some

connection with historical assets. We have a plan to refurbish our old castle ruins and many

other ruins. Another plan is to develop the whole town as one museum.

Buffetaut: Our goal is economic development in a true sense. We are going to develop our

tourist industry and invite high tech industry to the city. The sales point of Versailles

City is adjustable life style as well as tradition and history.

Nakao: In order to utilize historical assets, citizen’s understanding and cooperation are

essential. This will take time and effort. First of all, we need to understand why we have

to keep assets. Next we need to foster local pride. Tsuyama city is sometimes called a town

of warm hearts. Valuing this atmosphere, we will nurture the feeling that every citizen

should protect every cultural asset together.

Mese: Let me summarize ideas, which were offered today into 5 points:
1. Planning events that vitalize the local area by attracting tourists as well as involving

citizens
2.  Utilizing tourist resources by developing the surrounding areas
3. Projects to discover and create new tourist resources
4. Education about tourism
5. Projects to vitalize new aspects of the local districts other than tourism

Kiryu: One of the top agendas for town development is the way to attract outsiders.

Sightseeing and conferences are good opportunities to invite people, so we should make good use of them. The other is the way to attract insiders. We should try hard to increase public awareness. I think we need opportunities for citizens to experience historical assets where they can be proud of their districts.

(Post face) We were able to present our town development efforts to the world at the first international conference in Tsuyama. Using examples from local governments inside and

outside of Japan, we would like to seek ways to develop our city together with fellow

citizens. 

 

 

 

 


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