Old Havana: Community Participation, Gentrification and Inequality

Abstract

Abstract In the summer of 2016, the Havana’s Historian Office and the Cultural Heritage Management research group of the Complutense University of Madrid carried out a field study and survey of the inhabitants of Old Havana. The objective was to identify the problems and necessities of the respected people, but in relation to their Cultural Heritage. Havana’s heritage management plan has been a paradigm of community involvement and participation for decades. The locals living in the city are aware of the importance of their heritage, they value it and it is part of their lives. However, there is also a growing scepticism among World Heritage Status of the city, the increasing mass tourism and the priorities on the restauration of buildings. A survey was carried out among different neighbours in the city that faced different realities and paradigms when it came to the nature of their heritage and the management of it. The survey focused on the perception of the people on the situation, not only their opinion on how the heritage was being managed, but also on how it influenced their lives. The views on the World Heritage defined basically two very different realities: the proud Havana, the one where the development is bringing benefits (cultural, economic, aesthetical…) and the sceptic one, the ones that wonder how a mess such as Old Havana could be heritage of humankind, when it is not local heritage.

Keywords

• cultural heritage
• toursim
• cuba
• gentrification