Comercio y patrimonio culturalestrategias de gestión y acciones desarrolladas en áreas urbanas protegidas

Resum

The research and professional work developed since the beginning of the 21st century led to identify commerce as a variable scarcely addressed by research in the disciplinary field of Cultural Heritage. Nevertheless, it showed an important role in historic urban areas. Therefore, we propose this doctoral thesis entitled "Commerce and Cultural Heritage: Management strategies and actions carried out in historic urban areas". The objective is to analyse the role that commercial activity plays and can play in historic urban areas in relation to the preservation of their heritage values. The Hypothesis is that the symbiosis between Commerce and Cultural Heritage in the strategies, management structures, practices and actions developed in historic urban areas, favours the interests of both elements. The specific objectives are: 1) To determine the relationship between commercial activity and the urban landscape; 2) To verify the points of confluence between the management of urban areas from the commerce and cultural heritage perspectives; 3) Identify and categorize the involved actors; 4) Investigate the collective motivations that give rise to the different management formulas identified; 5) Provide a tool for those responsible for making decisions, both urban Cultural Heritage and Municipality as a whole, whether technical or political profile. The methodology starts from the empirical study of the object of attention, from the perspective of the analysis of the urban landscape as a perceptible result of the strategies and actions developed. This is completed with primary and secondary sources and their comparison with the reality under study. It finalize with critical conclusions and proposals. The thesis analyses the relationship between the city and commerce throughout history, up to the present (Chapter 1); the management models of urban areas from commercial activity: Town Centre Management and Business Improvement District (Chapter 2); and the relationship of commercial activity with heritage from the point of view of the discipline of Cultural Heritage (international doctrine, concept, actors, management models) (Chapter 3). Entities, models and cities from five continents have been investigated, especially from the United States, Cuba, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium and Spain. The research carried out confirms the hypothesis. Commerce is essential in historic urban areas, in the past and in the present. It is present in the urban landscape, creating it and modifying it but also preserving it. Cultural heritage brings added value to commerce. Commerce is fundamental for preservation, it is cultural heritage in itself and it is also used as a tool in the processes of revitalization and management of protected areas. The actors of the commerce use the heritage for their interests and actors of heritage do the same with the commerce. However, in general there is not direct and fluid collaboration between both areas, although several cases analysed show that this collaboration is possible and that when it occurs, it brings benefits both to preservation and to commerce. The proposed approach is to achieve collaboration between actors of both areas by creating stable meeting and collaboration spaces, where the political and the technical converge. The great challenge is the proactivity of the preservation actors; in terms of approaching the actors of the commerce from active integrating positions with accessible and admissible speeches by the economic agents; by defending the value and profitability of preservation but in terms of interest for commerce. This must be complemented with the incorporation of commerce into urban heritage management strategies, and both into the overall city strategy. In parallel, it is needed a visibility strategy aimed at generating a positive opinion regarding the value of heritage resources for the objectives of urban economic development and, therefore, the importance of its preservation. This must be done both locally and internationally.