Item – Thèses Canada

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Numéro d'OCLC
1000103457
Lien(s) vers le texte intégral
Exemplaire de BAC
Auteur
Valladares, Arturo,
Titre
The built environment in contemporary old Havana : building systems in a historic district
Diplôme
Ph. D. -- McGill University, 2017
Éditeur
[Montreal] : McGill University Libraries, [2017]
Description
1 online resource
Notes
Thesis supervisor: Lisa Bornstein (Supervisor).
Includes bibliographical references.
Résumé
"This dissertation examines recent dynamics behind the production of the built environment in Old Havana following the Cold War. Four articles illustrate how distinct dynamics to production of the built environment emerged during a period of the Cuban State's political and economic weakness and subsequent periods of greater strength. During the period of shock, which was associated with the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, community/grassroots-based solutions to daily problems emerged across the island. Subsequently, throughout the 1990s, a stronger Cuban State, backed up by new partners in Latin America, gradually reactivated top-down approaches to policy. One initiative, the Community Architect Program, reflects the evolution of Cuban politics in the early 1990s. The Program started as an initiative outside of the State to assist households with residential modifications and was then incorporated into government structures. The State's appropriation of the Community Architect Program embodies the shift in policy towards top-down approaches. State support for the rehabilitation of Old Havana and its transformation into a hub for international tourism and consumption similarly fits into this new balance of State-community relations. My study illustrates how three different 'building systems' have emerged in the production of the urban environment of Old Havana. I look at the implications that each of these systems hold for the configuration of the built environment and residents' social lives, personal satisfaction, well-being and quality of life. Two of these 'systems' - one top-down, the other bottom-up - are familiar to urban planners, architects and urban developers, although they have taken distinctive shape in the contexts of Old Havana and Cuba. I argue that a third 'hybrid building system' has emerged in Cuba by combining and borrowing elements from both the top-down and the bottom-up. I argue that this hybrid system is characterized by the following elements: the way in which decisions about design are made; a distinctive form of organizing, contracting or providing labor; the employment of different building technologies and materials; the way in which projects are financed; and the degrees to which projects comply with urban regulations. I argue that the 'hybrid' approach has the potential to empower residents and satisfy the needs of large-scale master visions for redevelopment in equal measure."--
Autre lien(s)
digitool.Library.McGill.CA
escholarship.mcgill.ca
escholarship.mcgill.ca
Sujet
Urban Planning