Plazas and Barrios is the work of a scholar with a trained eye for architectural structure and detail and a deep understanding of economic, social and political processes as they impact historic urban neighbourhoods. Scarpaci's focus is on how heritage tourism and globalization are reshaping the Latin American historic centre. The results are largely negative, with nation-states and municipal governments at best ‘willing accomplices’ doing little to preserve residential buildings but much to encourage tourism and commercial development.
Scarpaci's research is based on a comparative case method, with the nine examples chosen to introduce a certain region, location and racial and ethnic composition, among other variables. The case cities are Bogotá and Cartagena, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Cuenca and Quito, Ecuador; Havana and Trinidad, Cuba; Montevideo, Uruguay and Puebla, Mexico. Scarpaci integrates urban morphological profiles with archival research, interviews with key informants, field observations and use of focus groups. He also undertakes an innovative survey of 30,000 doorways in the nine historic districts. He recorded information pertaining to size and aesthetic quality, as well as more sociological indicators of number of floors and social functions tied to each entrance. This survey allows him to identify qualities that set one historic centre off from another. The Cuban cities show the highest residential use and the poorest building quality, while Buenos Aires and Montevideo have the highest number of floors, reflecting the encroachment of high-rises. In terms of economic function, Ciudad Vieja and Cuenca have integrated financial and banking services, while Cartagena and Quito rely more on ‘mom and pop’ retailing.
The impact of globalization becomes evident in the financial ties that bind these historic neighbourhoods to the world economy. Some neighbourhoods such as Cuenca survive largely on the flow of remittances from family members working abroad. Others rely more heavily on money made illegally (Cartagena) or foreign joint ventures (Havana). Major hotel chains such as Sofitel are moving into these urban centres and rehabilitating old structures. Externalities, in terms of negative impacts on the surrounding neighbourhood, include prostitution, drug selling and massive parking problems.
Several chapters focus on the four historic centres of Cuenca, Ecuador; Cartagena, Colombia; Havana, and Trinidad, Cuba. We learn, among other interesting points, that having a socialist government does not make Cuba any less attuned to the market economy or any less eager to exploit its heritage to attract tourists. In Havana's Habana Vieja foreigners are gentrifying the neighbourhood, and global capital is restructuring the built landscape. In the small city of Trinidad, local officials who wish to preserve a certain authentic quality to their distinctive historic centre find themselves battling against representatives of the national government who want to see greater tourist development to attract more hard currency.
Richly illustrated with photographs as well as maps and tables, Plazas and Barrios should inspire researchers in a wide range of fields to balance an understanding of the overall negative impacts of heritage tourism and globalization with sensitivity to the particular variations in each cultural setting. It may even inspire greater consideration of possible alternatives to tourism and globalization for many of the world's urban environments.
