Architecture and Planning ETDs
Publication Date
Summer 7-22-2018
Abstract
This thesis involves the San Blas neighborhood in the Historic Center of Cusco, Peru. It aims to better understand local effects of the changes that San Blas has undergone since the 1990s and to explore possibilities related to improving the qualities of life of long-term residents (vecinos) who have lived in San Blas for at least two generations. It has two principal objectives: 1) Make recommendations to present to various public and private entities who have a presence and influence over the San Blas neighborhood to improve the likelihood that vecino demands are heard, 2) Illuminate the ways that vecinos are adapting to neighborhood change in order to maintain a sense of community, traditions and ways of life in spite of the strong presence of tourism in the neighborhood. The data in this thesis were derived from participatory asset mapping sessions and interviews with San Blas vecinos, academic literature, literature published by the Municipality of Cusco and the Ministry of Culture, the Master Plan of the Historic Center of Cusco and participatory observation. Recommendations for improving vecino qualities of life were suggested by vecinos and myself. While this thesis is specific to the San Blas neighborhood of Cusco, I hope that its findings, methods and methodologies might be applied to additional areas of the Historic Center of Cusco and other UNESCO World Heritage cities of Latin America and beyond for exploring strategies and solutions to the displacement of long-term residents and the disruption of their livelihoods in the context of highly concentrated cultural tourism.
Project Sponsors
Latin American & Iberian Institute, UNM; Tinker Foundation; Office of Graduate Studies, UNM; Graduate and Professional Student Association, UNM
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Community and Regional Planning
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
School of Architecture and Planning
First Committee Member (Chair)
Dr. Laura Harjo
Second Committee Member
Dr. Ronda Brulotte
Third Committee Member
Moises Gonzales
Keywords
cultural tourism, gentrification, Indigenous mapping, placemaking, cultural patrimony, Cusco
Recommended Citation
Finnell, Kalyn. "Ya no tengo vecinos: Local Understandings of Neighborhood Change in Cusco, Peru." (2018). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/arch_etds/140
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Human Geography Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, International and Intercultural Communication Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Leisure Studies Commons, Tourism and Travel Commons, Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons
