Today sees the start of the Lloret de Mar International Seminar on Urban Planning, a gathering of urban planning experts scheduled to conclude on Saturday 16 January. Among the attendees are six international experts from the Habitat Professionals Forum (HPF), which works in partnership with the United Nations, and members of the Spanish Association of Urban Planning Technicians (with headquarters in Barcelona). The goal of the event is to identify urban planning and tourism-related improvements for Lloret de Mar.
The international participants include the landscape architect Desiree Martínez, former President of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA); César Augusto, a civil engineering graduate and holder of a PhD in economics who works as a consultant and university lecturer (at the National University of Colombia, among others); and Peter Basin, an architect who graduated from Harvard University and works as a project manager at the Urban Planning Institute of Ljubljana.
The presentation of the seminar, which forms part of the Operational Plan for the Tourism Restructuring of Lloret de Mar , was attended by representatives of the institutions and bodies that have made it possible, including Jaume Dulsat, Mayor of Lloret de Mar; Joan Abad, Sub-Director General for Tourism Planning of the Government of Catalonia; Ismael Fernández, President of the Habitat Professionals Forum (HPF); and Josep Maria Molist, President of the Tourism Business Round Table of Lloret de Mar.
Knowledge of the area
The first three days of the seminar will comprise meetings with representatives of important bodies in the area, such as the Working Group of the Operational Plan for the Tourism Restructuring of Lloret de Mar (made up of representatives of Lloret Town Council, the Tourism Business Round Table and the Government of Catalonia), along with business people (including transport operators), municipal technicians, the local government team, members of the various local political parties, and representatives of Lloret Turisme (the tourism promotion body of Lloret de Mar), among others. On the same days, the urban planing experts will be taken on a tour of the area in order to familiarise them with the special characteristics of the southern Costa Brava.
The remaining days will be taken up with a series of strategic workshops, with a short- and long-term vision, geared towards drawing up a final document of proposals, which will contain the experts’ contributions.
Lloret de Mar, towards becoming a smart destination
The International Seminar on Urban Planning is one of the 29 actions listed in the Operational Plan for the Tourism Restructuring of Lloret de Mar, which was presented in 2015 and is scheduled to be implemented by 2020
The actions of the Operational Plan are grouped into different areas: connectivity and mobility of the town; urban regeneration; modernisation, renovation and new investments in the accommodation sector and tourism offering; energy efficiency and telecommunications; and the creation and consolidation of strategic products, events and high-value segments.
Future actions of the Working Group include a joint initiative with the State Corporation for Innovation Management and Tourism Technologies (SEGITTUR) to turn Lloret de Mar into a smart destination, and the Commercial Uses Plan, aimed at fostering the economic activity of the town.
