URB_HE URBAN HERITAGE CONSERVATION AS VECTOR OF SOCIAL EQUITY. PRIA 2015-17 Interdisciplinary research project

This research and pedagogical activity is related to the concepts of rehabilitation, regeneration, heritage conservation. The concept of HUL Historic Urban Landscape defines an approach in which the natural, the historic and the social elements in the cities concur to form a unique and complex heritage. The objective of this research is to identify strategies and guidelines for a regeneration program that could be implemented in some pilot area of Havana, along its waterfronts, from Almendares to the port area of Bahia. This area was identified after a field survey, among those neighborhoods that, although rich in historical and cultural heritage, were not included in the Unesco site nor were subjected to valorization interventions. The choice to direct the research on Havana has two reasons: the first is the fact that Havana is an extraordinary case study for the richness and stratification of its historical center and the very peculiar problems that afflict it; the second is the need to define a “local and identitarian project”, that is in that case crucial because, even today, many of the redevelopment projects that are being implemented are conformed to western and European model. During the research, were developed some graduations projects and a workshop (“Horizonte Habana”, april 2017) which addressed the theme of urban regeneration as an instrument for improving the living and social conditions of those who live in the areas interested by interventions. This topic has been faced critically, highlighting how the regeneration processes already in place in the city, not only in La Habana Vieja, are causing not always positive impacts on the local community: for example, gentrification, rising prices, transforming neighborhood commercial activities to match them to the market for foreign tourists. The workshop covered an area in the western Vedado district, next to the Old Town (La Habana Vieja) but still not affected by tourism. The area is bordered by Malecon to the north, from the Avenida Paseo to the east, from the Avenida 23 to the south and from the Almendares River to the east.