Small cities of character: an asset for Riverie
The village of Riverie has been accredited as part of the network of ‘Petites cités de caractère’ since spring 2017.
The concept ‘Petites cités de caractère’ was born in the mid 1970’s to highlight atypical villages which are both rural from their geographical location, their limited population, and urban from their history and heritage. These cities, which used to be administrative, political, religious, commercial and military centres, saw the decrease of their urban functions after the administrative and industrial revolutions in France. They lost a large part of their urban functions, and ended up deprived of the population and the financial means to keep up this heritage.
The project ‘Petites cités de caractère’ aims at bringing together the different players of the villages around the same purpose: the protection of heritage as a lever of the development of territories. The first action of our network ‘Petites cités de caractère’ is mainly to assist elected representatives who wish to develop their villages while respecting its heritage.
In accordance with the national quality charter it’s referring to, the accreditation committee, which selects and inspects the villages of character, mainly consists in a round-the-table meeting every three or five years during which various players of the community (STAP, DRAC, CAUE, regional council, department council, players in the cultural field, players in tourism, …) meet to discuss the heritage project of the village. This is part of an assistance process, not a certification of an accomplished project.
In order to enhance their influence, the ‘Petites cités de caractère’ make their specific features the centre of attention. They highlight alternative and individualized forms of welcome while contributing to the dynamism of the network. Each of them has for mission to protect, restore, keep up the heritage, as well as highlight, animate, and promote it towards the inhabitants and visitors so as to participate to the economic development of territories, and make the ‘Petites cités de caractère’ an attractive high-quality touristic designation.
To know more, click on the following link: http://www.petitescitesdecaractere.com