If we look at natural heritage one of the best examples is the Giant's Causeway (Figure 4) located on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland which is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.
Some of the structures in the area, having been subject to several million years of weathering, resemble objects, such as the Organ and Giant's Boot structures. Other features include many reddish, weathered low columns known as Giants Eyes, created by the displacement of basalt boulders; the Shepherd's
Steps; the Honeycomb; the Giant's Harp; the Chimney Stacks; the Giant's Gate
and the Camel's Hump. The area is a haven for sea birds such as fulmar, petrel, cormorant, shag, redshank guillemot and razorbill, while the weathered rock formations host a number of rare and unusual plants including sea spleenwort, hare's foot trefoil, vernal squill, sea fescue and frog orchid.
The castle of Bourtange, for example, situated on the Dutch-German border, played an important role in the protection of the north of the Netherlands. The spread of the modern tactical devices in the 19th century, however, gradually made the fortress obsolete, and so its earthworks walls were demolished, its ditches filled back in, and agricultural lands were formed in their place.
In the 1960s the economic problems emerging in the region caused the local authorities to explore new directions, and so in 1964 they decided to rebuild the former fortification. Using the historic plans they reconstructed the walls (they took the situation in 1742 as the basis, when the castle reached its largest size) and the deteriorated buildings were renovated (Figure 5).
In addition, in the interest of the preservation of traditions, the local residents put on historical clothing on major holidays, and thus they try to recreate the past centuries.
Another type of the architectural relics of the past are industrial monuments, which can also be used in the framework of place marketing. In Völklingen, located in the Saar Region, an iron and steel works was established in 1873, which was the largest such facility in Europe in the early 20th century (Figure 6). The crisis of the steel industry beginning in the 1960s, however, also affected this plant, and as a result, it ceased to operate in 1986 (UNESCO, 1997).
The government of the Saar Region, however, did not permit the dismantling of the plant, and they decided to designate it as a protected monument. As a result of their efforts, the ironworks was put on the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites as one of the outstanding monuments of industrial history which presents, in a complex manner, the technological development of large-scale iron works. In addition to the presentation of the past, the facility also serves other purposes these days: it gives home to several arts galleries, and an innovation-technological centre for young entrepreneurs was also established on its territory.
Figure 6 Bird’s eye view of the Völklingen iron works Source: UNESCO, 1997, p191.
One of the best Hungarian examples for the use of the built past for the purposes of place marketing is Hollókő (and within that, of the Old Village part) near Szécsény. The mud-walled, rafter-supported, shingled houses built on stone foundations faithfully reflect the architectural traditions of the Palóc minority (Figure 7), while another important characteristic feature is that all buildings also have some practical function (e.g. post office, museum, tourist hotel).
Interest in the settlement’s monuments began in the 1950s, and as a result of the preservation and restoration works that took place since that time, the settlement was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. At the same time, the local residents also make efforts to acquaint visitors with the Palóc traditions as well, i.e. the intellectual in addition to the architectural heritage. This aim is served by several events such as the Hollókő Easter Festival, the Palóc Folkweave Festival, or the Vintage Procession in October. As a result of these steps some 100-120 thousand tourists visit the settlement each year; at the same time, the development also brought many other problems to the surface (Kovács et al, 2000).
References
Ashworth, G. J., Voogd, H., (1987): Geografische marketing, in Stedebouw en
Volkshuisvesting, LXVIII, 85-90, NIROV, Den Haag
Ashworth, G. J. (1991): Heritage planning: conservation as the management of
urban change. Geo Pers, Groningen, p. 150.
Ashworth, G. J. (1994): From History to Heritage: from Heritage to Identity. in
Ashworth, G. J. - Larkham, P. J. (ed) Building a New Heritage: Tourism, Culture and Identity in the New Europe, Routledge, London, pp. 13-30.
Hornyák, E. (2001): Az örökségföldrajzi tevékenység lehetőségei a földrajzi
folyamatok alakításában. Falu Város Régió, 4., pp. 12-15.
Kotler, P., Haider, H. H., Rein, I. (1993): Marketing Places: Attracting
Investment, Industry, and Tourism to Cities, States and Nations. The Free Press, New York
Kovács, D. - Molnár, M. - Farkas, T. (2000): Hollókő felemelése és …? Falu
Város Régió 10., pp. 14-21.
Leitner, H., (1990): Cities in pursuit of economic growth. Political Geography
Quartely IX, 146-170, Elsevier, Frankfurt
Throsby, D. (1997): Seven questions in the economics of cultural heritage. in
(eds. Hutter M. – Rizzo, I.) Economic perspectives on cultural heritage. Palgrave Macmillan, 13-30.
Tunbridge, J. E. - Ashworth, G. J. (1996): Dissonant heritage: the management
of the past as a resource in conflict. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester
UNESCO (1997): A világ természeti csodái és kultúrkincsei: Észak- és Közép-
Európa. Alexandra, p. 319.
Ward, S. V. (1998): Selling Places: The marketing and promotion of towns and