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The coloniality of UNESCO’s heritage urban landscapes: Heritage process and transnational gentrification in Cuenca, Ecuador

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  • Matthew Hayes

Abstract

The article analyses heritage conservation and urban upgrading in Cuenca, Ecuador, in order to reflect on global inequality and rights to the city at the crossroads of transnational lifestyle mobilities and the globalisation of real estate markets. Processes of gentrification in Cuenca reproduce colonial social relations and marginalise the popular economic activities of informal vendors. Under the auspices of UNESCO World Heritage designation, the Inter-American Development Bank and successive municipal governments have sought to increase property values in the historic El Centro neighbourhood. Rather than relying on a local middle-class return to the city, heritage urban upgrading in Cuenca is dependent on higher-income global middle classes attracted to the city’s historic urbanism. The subsequent higher-income appropriation of urban improvements takes the form of dispossession of use and exchange values of lower-income groups, especially of informal vendors.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Hayes, 2020. "The coloniality of UNESCO’s heritage urban landscapes: Heritage process and transnational gentrification in Cuenca, Ecuador," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3060-3077, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:57:y:2020:i:15:p:3060-3077
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098019888441
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peek, Peter, 1980. "Pobreza urbana, migración y reforma agraria en el Ecuador," Notas de Población, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    2. Griet Steel, 2012. "Whose Paradise? Itinerant Street Vendors' Individual and Collective Practices of Political Agency in the Tourist Streets of Cusco, Peru," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 1007-1021, September.
    3. Eduardo Rojas, 1999. "Old Cities, New Assets: Preserving Latin America's Urban Heritage," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 3118, February.
    4. Harvey, David, 2005. "The New Imperialism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199278084.
    5. repec:idb:brikps:3118 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Ken Taylor, 2016. "The Historic Urban Landscape paradigm and cities as cultural landscapes. Challenging orthodoxy in urban conservation," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(4), pages 471-480, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Navarrete Escobedo, 2020. "Foreigners as gentrifiers and tourists in a Mexican historic district," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3151-3168, November.
    2. Matthew Hayes & Hila Zaban, 2020. "Transnational gentrification: The crossroads of transnational mobility and urban research," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3009-3024, November.
    3. de Assis, Rebeca Froés & Loureiro, Carlos Felipe Grangeiro & Freitas, Clarissa & Timms, Paul, 2024. "Transport-induced gentrification in Latin America: An urban conflict arising from accessibility improvements," OSF Preprints ebf2h, Center for Open Science.
    4. Thomas Sigler & David Wachsmuth, 2020. "New directions in transnational gentrification: Tourism-led, state-led and lifestyle-led urban transformations," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3190-3201, November.
    5. Georgia Alexandri & Michael Janoschka, 2020. "‘Post-pandemic’ transnational gentrifications: A critical outlook," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3202-3214, November.
    6. Ryan Thomas Devlin & Francesca Piazzoni, 2023. "In the name of history: (De)Legitimising street vendors in New York and Rome," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(1), pages 109-125, January.
    7. Magdalena Novoa, 2022. "INSURGENT HERITAGE: Mobilizing Memory, Place‐based Care and Cultural Citizenships," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 1016-1034, November.
    8. Catalina Ortiz, 2024. "Writing the Latin American city: Trajectories of urban scholarship," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(3), pages 399-425, February.
    9. Agustin Cocola-Gant & Antonio Lopez-Gay, 2020. "Transnational gentrification, tourism and the formation of ‘foreign only’ enclaves in Barcelona," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3025-3043, November.

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