Evelyn Thurlby: Project will give city a new vision and identity (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Evelyn Thurlby: Project will give city a new vision and identity

10:27am Friday 10th August 2007 in

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I WENT back to Rio de Janeiro last year and was disappointed by the experience.

I had been so excited by the prospect, filled with memories of my first visit 30 years ago, but disillusion set in as I realised that nothing seemed to have changed - it was just a bit older, busier and scruffier.

I work with visitor attractions and there is a rule of thumb that a new wow' is needed once every three years to encourage repeat visits. Museums too know they need a regular programme of blockbuster exhibitions to bring back the crowds. Change is a necessary prerequisite of a sustainable business.

The same applies to cities - or certainly to a city like Winchester, which is not just a home for thousands of people, but also has a key role as a cultural and creative centre.

So the question which must be asked is whether enough is being done to refresh, reinvigorate and update Winchester for the 21st century.

This issue came into sharp focus during the recent debate over the proposed Silver Hill development. I acknowledge that Silver Hill has vociferous critics. However, I am not one of them.

Why? Because, in my view Silver Hill is undoubtedly the best opportunity we have had for decades to make a significant change and reinvent our wonderful city for a new era.

Moreover, the Silver Hill proposal brings with it a massive bonus - the people dimension'.

While architecture and design physically creates places, it is we, the people, who use them, shape them, and make them vibrant and appealing.

And we have a great opportunity to create a people place' in the new paved and traffic-free Broadway.

Winchester has a marvellous High Street for people to stroll up and down, continental style. But it has lacked a civic gathering place.

Now the Broadway development will fill that gap as, potentially, Winchester's equivalent of St Marks Square in Venice.

But how can we ensure that this opportunity is maximised? Who is going to take responsibility for making it work and draw people back to it?

By design the Broadway will link organically to the other exciting new chapter in Winchester's story, the proposed English Project@Winchester, a permanent exhibition dedicated to the story of the English language, of which I am a director.

My colleagues and I believe that the English Project will (in the current buzz word) be Place-shaping' - that is, it will be central to a new vision and identity for Winchester whilst building on the city's historical legacy.

So perhaps the English Project team could programme events and activities which would reinforce Winchester's identity as the cradle of the English language.

So, on behalf of the English Project, this is my bid. I hope you will support it and be part of it.

Tourism consultant Evelyn Thurlby lives in Winchester, and is the ex-chief executive of the Eden Project in Cornwall.