Plazas and Barrios. Heritage Tourism and Globalization in the Latin American Centro Historico (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Plazas and Barrios. Heritage Tourism and Globalization in the Latin American Centro Histórico Rosemary D. F. Bromley Plazas and Barrios. Heritage Tourism and Globalization in the Latin American Centro Histórico. Joseph L. Scarpaci. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 2005. xix and 267 pp., maps, photos, notes, references and index. $45.00 cloth. ISBN 0-8165-1631-6. The Latin American historic city center (centro histórico) is a worthy topic for a book. This part of the city displays Spanish colonial and nineteenth century buildings with grandiose squares, set amongst the imprints of modernity. It is an old city space teaming with life: shops, street traders, and low income residents. The centro histórico lies at the heart of much change in the Latin American city. It saw the flight of wealthy residents (and smart shops) to the suburbs and their replacement by the poor (and informal trade) in a process of transformation reflecting trends occurring at the world scale. Today it is a focus for historic preservation and for nurturing heritage tourism, which is becoming so important to economic development in Latin America. Much could therefore be written about the characteristics, transformations and influences involving the centro histórico. Joseph Scarpaci draws on his long acquaintance with Latin America, and on his detailed research in various historic centers since the early 1990s. He bases his writing on nine case study cities displaying varied economic roles, sizes, and coastal and inland locations. Five of the cities are dealt with fairly sketchily: Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Puebla and Quito; whereas four provide the bulk of the material for the book: Cartagena in Colombia, Cuenca in Ecuador, Havana and Trinidad in Cuba. His approach is that of the urban cultural geographer with an architectural slant, enriched with personal experiences. In the first chapter about the built heritage, we are introduced to Scarpaci's wide ranging and eclectic approach. He opens with two vignettes in different places in different time periods: Paris in the 1880s and Cuenca in the 1990s, to illustrate how modernity is associated with transformation in older urban areas. He deals effectively with the necessary definitions, pondering the meaning of heritage, Latin American architecture, policies for heritage tourism, and outlining the book's approach. A substantial Chapter 2brings more focus and provides an urban historical geography of the Latin American centro histórico. We are provided with the details of Spanish urban planning and some brief introductions to the nine cities, their histories and their planning contexts, with a set of useful maps. Nothing is covered in depth. Unusually the reader is also offered a sample of the author's field notes in a strangely personal digression. These notes capture some of his impressions and help to convey the ambience, by embracing the non-material [End Page 118] characteristics of the different centers. Chapter 3 is an excellent feature of the book. Here Scarpaci provides the reader with an "empirical snap shot" of his nine case study cities. He developed a methodology to enable comparisons of general land uses, building quality and building height in the different historic centers. Land use surveys were carried out by profiling nearly 30,000 doorways. These surveys revealed the ways in which the Cuban cities were dominated by residential land-uses, how Quito had a concentration of commercial activity and how abandonment levels of over 5% characterised Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Other surveys derived building quality from the façades, and noted building heights to suggest the impacts of modernity on the skyline. Key features are summarised in tables and diagrams, offering the reader valuable insights into the different centers. The next four chapters focus on selected aspects of the four main case study cities. Chapter 4 draws on both Cartagena and Cuenca to illustrate the influences of tourists, investors and relatives living outside historic centers. Globalization is a strong theme, although the chapter title suggests a greater emphasis on social construction. Scarpaci uses focus group discussions to conclude on the low levels of community participation in the patterns of change. Chapter 5 reports on the financing of historic preservation in Cartagena. The main section concerns the regulatory environment...