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Tourism, urban heritage and social justice. The case of Cuenca (Ecuador)

Abstract:

The tourism of Latin American urban heritage has demanded material and symbolic transformations, which have resulted in the displacement of specific groups. The research takes the historical center of Cuenca in Ecuador as a case study, due to the extent of its transformations and the success of its tourism marketing campaigns, from its declaration as Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 1999. The proposed methodology is developed in four phases: characterization of the case, analysis of plans and programs, study of constructed projects and spatial analysis of displacement. The results obtained show the economic approach of the plans, the invisibility of the displacements caused and exemplify some of the strategies of the processes of tourism in heritage areas, where the displacement of popular groups is depreciated against the improvement of the urban historical landscape for purposes tourism, as opposed to principles of social and territorial justice.