Revitalización de centros urbanos desde la perspectiva del programa main street en Barrios Altos

Abstract

El presente documento busca dar a conocer algunos estudios que desarrollan la importancia de los actores sociales como gestores de la conservación del patrimonio arquitectónico, en especial aquellos que se dedican al comercio tradicional. En ese marco los comerciantes locales tradicionales son los actores más interesados en la revitalización de los centros históricos. Muchas instituciones, tanto públicas como privadas, incentivan actualmente políticas de desarrollo para la revitalización de centros urbanos, como es el caso de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO). En el presente trabajo busca exponer la revitalización “desde adentro” de Barrios Altos. Con ese objetivo, se explica la experiencia norteamericana desde el programa llamado Main Street, que desde inicios de los años 80 se viene desarrollando exitosamente en pequeñas y medianas localidades de los Estados Unidos. Este programa se enfoca en la revitalización del área comercial ubicada principalmente alrededor de la calle principal (Main Street); de ahí el nombre. Desde esta perspectiva, la investigación busca aterrizar este programa en una zona de Barrios Altos, específicamente en el ambiente urbano monumental de Cinco Esquinas, uno de los lugares más representativos donde todavía tiene lugar un comercio local tradicional y existe arquitectura patrimonial a conservar.

The following document aims to present a handful of studies that develop the importance of social actors as one of the groups in charge of the preservation of architectural heritage, especially those involved in traditional commerce. Within this framework, traditional local traders are the actors who are most interested in the revitalization of historical centers. Many institutions, both public and private, currently encourage policies for the development of historical centers, such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This essay aims to show the revitalization “from within” of Barrios Altos. In this sense, it explains the North American experience from the point of view of the Main Street program, which, since the early 1980s, has been developing successfully in small and medium towns in the United States. This program focuses on the revitalization of commercial areas, usually located around the main street of a town; hence the name. From this perspective, the following investigation seeks to land this program in an area of Barrios Altos, specifically in the monumental urban environment of Cinco Esquinas, one of the most representative spaces, where traditional local commerce is still present and there is patrimonial architecture to be preserved.

This article presents an architecture critique about the result of the La Almudena Bridge Restoration and Value Enhancement project in the city of Cusco, which ended the year 2006. Said project starts from the idea of physically recovering the historical Inca road system, the Qhapaq Ñan, that was once the crucial integration tool of the then empire of the Tawantinsuyu. The realization of the project also meant the renovation of a space under a marked deterioration and insalubrity process. As well, it caused the reopening of the access through which Cusco communicates with the Kuntisuyu, or coastal, territories. Unexpected challenges and new methodological experiences appeared during the intervention, and a new way to understand the value of public civil transportation heritage was born, previously not truly appreciated.