Narrating the Landscapes of Entrepreneurial Regionalism: Rescaling, ‘New’ Regionalism and the Planned Remaking of València, Spain

Abstract

This paper analyses the instrumental role of cultural landscape in the regionalisation of European states and identities through a case study of the planned redevelopment of València, capital of the Spanish autonomous region the Comunitat Valenciana. Briefly articulating recent theories of state rescaling and ‘new regionalism’ to cultural landscape this paper poses the question: how may landscapes be planned by ‘new’ regional states to rescale regionalist territories and imaginaries? The planning and promotion of the cultural entertainment complex the City of Arts and Sciences demonstrates how one regional state—the Generalitat Valenciana—sought to redefine an historically contested and historicist regionalism through landscapes of modern, entrepreneurial regionalism. Paying more attention to the cultural landscape enriches our theories of how state rescaling and ‘new’ regionalism are narrated discursively and represented materially.