(P) Agusitn Estefanell M: URBAN FUTURES

Urban Futures:

The global localization and the local globalization:

This is only a draft a preliminary exploration, a first word not a last word, and attempt to capture ideas and to suggest how they might be developed and tested. Its tone will be speculative and perhaps a little irresponsible .(Kevin Lynch, 1960)

Globalization already exists from many years ago, even before Colombus arrives America (the continent).

Lost of traditions, localities, cultures, among others, because the clash of different cultures is a constant in the human history. Spanish Empire erased Inca Culture and religion through the introduction of “civilized” customs into the native’s way of lives. Before that, Incas were not saints. They had a warrior tradition and every time they conquested a city, they used to take all the inhabitants as prisoners. When they didn´t use them as slaves or in sacrifices, Incas spread them all over the Empire in order to erase any tradition, ritual or sign of the foreign culture. They useed this strong process of acculturation to expand they own culture all over the territory. When Spanish finally defeated them, the acculturation process was, from my personal point of view, softer than Incas one, at least at the beginning.

The Incan culture was more develop in many ways than Spanish, however, (a lei motive of history) the strongest culture devours the richer one. One example of this was the exorcize exercise of Incas religious buildings. In many cases Spanish de-built many Incas temples (made by the well known Inca´s masonry) to build Catholic churches in a very rustic masonry way (as they built in those times).

On the other hand, Spanish Empire did not take many elements, at least not intentionally, from the Incas, however, the Spanish architecture in America and they way to built cities, the way of create art, even the way of living were radically different than in Europe. Despite the fact that Spanish culture smash Inca´s one, it couldn´t avoid to be influenced by it. That process reminds me the vector sum explanation at Physics course in high school. When you sum two different vectors (different in magnitude and direction), they always become in a new one with a different direction and magnitude at all, doesn´t matter how big one was and how small was the other, the result it’s always different.

In somehow, aside of the war episodes, and in a very schematic way, we can say that what really happens is that between Incas and Spanish were a huge clash of cultures from which a quite different culture emerge. Mostly Spanish, but not really Spanish. Not Incan but with some Incan aspects. Not so obviously at the beginning but quite clear some centuries later.

In addition, with new vectors or localities making interference in all this process, the new “vector” wasn´t only a direct result among Spanish and Incas. The life was different, the weather was different, the connection among cities was different, and the distances, the landscape, the resources, the food, the row material, and the political problems were different. This was a third vector in this sum (defeated Incacult+Spanishcult+locality)

Finally, when we speak about America, the Spanish Empire was spread all over a massive extension of land, from the very south (Tierra de fuego, Argentina), to the Caribe, even Mexico (over the Ecuador tropic). That not only includes the Incas, but also many others native cultures and many others localities (also Mayas, Aztecas, Charruas, Quechuas, Patagonians, etc).

We can see how, despite Spanish culture won over other cultures (predominant vector), in the years after, each region, every city was a different result from each other. Later they look for individualization. In the next decades, America (the continent) not only got their independence from the Spanish empire, but also they had divided in different countries with very different characteristics, even when they had the same origin. In fact, however they were colonies of the same Empire, they got they own independence separately, like independent… countries?

Regarding this point, we can argue that politics, economy, trade & commerce, different interest, etc could generate determinants strains among regions; however the result of a massive process of globalization ended in a massive process of new localization.

In some way there is a feeling of identity that always prevails and turn into something stronger when “the other” becomes visible. In Garcia Marquez book´s “El General y su laberinto” (The General and his maze) which is a historical novel based on Simon Bolivar´s last days. Shows how difficult was for him to unify the people all over South and Central America. His bigger aim was to unify South America in one Nation.

There is a Bolivar phrase (in that book) which says: “I spoke so much about Independence to all of them that now everyone wants their own one”.

The McDonald Experience

Nowadays, we feel that in some how our cultures are erased by the globalization process and by the consumism phenomena. It’s well known the in any traveler’s tales the anecdote about how to get into a Mc Donald. No matter in which country, all the McDonald are exactly (or mostly) the same. However there is a big difference in the perception of this experience: Travelers that used to go to McDonald in their own city said that it remind them home because it´s exactly the same that the McDonald in their town. Radically different is the effect if the travelers who’s never (or usually don´t) goes to Mc Donald or there are no McDonald in their city. They claim that is like a “culture gap” and they are exactly same in any country.

The same experience is perceived in a very different way among people.

Globalization

I strongly think that, in the past, globalization already exist. However, it was closely linked to some other “agents” or/and “phenomenon”. Examples of these agents could be not only empires, wars, colonies, religion but also trade & commerce, explorers (like Marco polo), etc.

In the early 1990 with the internet invention and the “www” experience (World Wide Connection), globalization phenomenon started to change radically. One of the main changes was that it became independent from other agents. It didn´t depend of wars, conquests or agents as it used to in the past. Regarding this, the scale of globalization’s scope was different. Like if it became independent, globalization decisions no longer depend on governments, big companies or other agents but on the domestic decisions or at least actions of any dwellers house, in their habits of consumptions and in their day to day customs.

In somehow, at the beginning of this process, globalization seems to be a one direction process. Therefore, people were passive consumers without significant influence in the information flows. However, this started to change with the invention of the social networks in the first decade of the 2000. After social networks, globalization became a two-ways phenomenons in which way of lives are influenced but also became an influence factor. Information flows are strongly influenced by people, and somehow, through social networks, the individual have found a place of global expression in this process. We could be locals, our network could be narrow or wide, and our interest could vary in a very wide range of possibilities, however, there is a general feeling of belonging to something global, and all we do could impact in the global way. We are building our identities no longer only with our immediate environment but also with the global environment.

Finally, we are surrounded by plentiful examples of normal individual making big differences, achieving great impacts in our lives. The feeling that everything is achievable, that anybody can become millionaire, famous or popular suddenly is in the air. This has been encouraging entrepreneurism in many ways and this has also built many global changes many times.

The Marketing Revolution

I don´t know anything about marketing, I really don´t know how they work, however, from one moment until know, they are in everywhere.

Before internet, TV was the most effective way of advertising, in somehow radio too but without this special support of images that TV has.

When internet arrived, wasn´t as strong as nowadays, however TV started to change. Cable TV deterritorialized advertising. I remember a father complaining in a shop about the trouble caused by the fact that his kids had been watching advertising in cable TV about toys that didn´t exist in Uruguay and he wasn´t able to buy for them.

In addition to that, at the beginning internet was like if somebody would had created a city without public spaces, where, If you wanted something you just looked and found it. You could write the www…adress and go straight, browsers worked as a very useful “tourist information”. Everything was towards the search in question.

When facebook appeared, for example, was like a new urban public space in the network. People started to share, to comment, to expose, etc. Things like found something useful in the net started to happens by chance. Facebook was the public space in which in an active way the individual appears and interact, directly (posting) or indirectly (just looking the other). People also started to suggest, to recommend, thus, to give their own opinion about not only actuality themes, art, news, social events, etc, but also about brands, new technologies, etc. Therefore, something that at the beginning started like a social network, step by step became also a kind of commercial network too. Brands realized that a recommendation by word of mouth had 90% effectiveness while TV advertising has a 20% [1]. In this line, google, facebook and others start to develop a whole new system of advertising and relationships among users according with their needings [2]. In some how, this new virtual Public Space is now full of kiosks, shops and advertising. However, and this is relatively new, you wont find many of this by chance. This will be recomennded by a friend or “posted” by the network (google, facebook, etc) [2]. This makes the invest in publisity more accurate, effective and cheaper, but it is also another example of how globalization, one more time, tends into a new way of locality.

[2] Google adWords[2]:

Local and regional targeting

Set your ads to appear only to people searching in a particular city, region, or country. Now it's easy to target online customers within 20 miles of your front door or across the world.

Local ads

Help potential customers find you by showing a business address with your AdWords text ads. You can show your location to people searching for local information on Google.com and Google Maps.