The heritage as a resource: the change of paradigms in urban conservation from an international perspective

El artículo estudia la emergente noción de patrimonio como recurso para el desarrollo desde dos entradas1: la disciplina de la conservación urbana y los discursos globales en torno a la cultura y el desarrollo. Al examinar los avances en ambas y aclarar los vínculos entre la ciudad, los entornos históricos y la sostenibilidad, se identifican un conjunto de valiosos puntos de vista que invitan a repensar las estrategias de desarrollo urbano en las ciudades históricas andinas y ecuatorianas.The article looks at the emerging notion of the heritage as a resource to the development from two inputs: the discipline of urban conservation and the global discourse on culture and development. To review progress on both and clarify the links between the city, historical environments and sustainability, a set of valuable views are identified to rethink strategies for urban development in the Andean and Ecuadorian cities

Towards a contemporary approach to the study of development & cultural heritage

The interest for understanding the relationship between Development and Culture, and specifically Cultural Heritage, has increased during the 21st century. During the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (2002), representatives from different contexts acknowledged the role of Culture as a pillar of Development. This recognition has been recently recalled by the Hangzhou Declaration (2013), which proposed to include Culture as a fundamental principle of the post-2015 UN development agenda. However, the notion of Development – as much as that of Cultural Heritage, both embrace complex and dynamic natures, which have been only partially understood. Development as growth and Cultural Heritage as limited to the arts, are known to have negative implications in other areas (social, environmental, cultural). In spite of the recent advances to clarify each of these notions, the bridge between theory and practical actions, is still a debt. This article aims to develop a baseline for the study of the binomial Development and Cultural Heritage. As a first approach, a retrospective analysis is presented in order to reveal the theoretical advances influencing the adoption of the terms, and to build a contemporary understanding of these notions. In this regard, key moments on the evolution of the relationship between Development & Cultural Heritage are examined through the lens of the leading international organizations on each field: The United Nations (UN) Head of development studies, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in the Cultural field. The article then discusses preliminary findings on the theoretical gaps and concludes by identifying their potential challenges