Management Strategies in the Comprehensive Rehabilitation of the Historic Centers of Quito and Havana

Abstract

Historical centers are structural elements in contemporary cities which preserve identity and collective memory. Despite being lubricants of social cohesion, intense processes of urban growth, fragmentation, and degradation put these city centers at great risk. Thus, they have been considered priority spaces in public renewal policies affected by inaccurate interventions which must contend with changing and complex realities in the Latin American and Caribbean contexts. This article approaches the main management strategies used in the comprehensive urban rehabilitation of historical centers through critical and comparative analysis of the historic centers of Quito and Old Havana, which are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The study ultimately aims to determine the main successes and failures of the management strategies used and proposes measures to support decision-making processes, optimizing the type of urban intervention employed.