Plazas y parques del Centro Histórico de Cuenca: estudio comparativo de los espacios públicos primigenios de la ciudad

Abstract

The Historic Center of the city of Cuenca, Ecuador was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1999 by UNESCO. Within the Historic Center there are public spaces that were born during the foundation of the city: Calderon Park, San Blas Park, San Sebastián Square, San Francisco Square, Plazoleta del Carmen de la Asunción and Plazo - leta de Santo Domingo. These are known as primordial spaces, that is, they’re associated with the birth or origin of the city. Due to the inexorable passage of time, these spaces have been subject of change from their appari - tion till nowadays. Because of these changes, it is necessary to make an evaluation of them and whether, with their current state, they still retain the heritage category that was granted to them with the UNESCO declaration. The present degree work makes an evaluation of the current state of the squares, in addition to an assess - ment and comparison between the values found today and those the squares had prior to the interventions that were made in them from 2004 till now. To achieve this, the investigation uses three methodologies: two made in the immediate environment and one from abroad. The combination of these three methodologies seeks to make up for the greatest number of deficiencies that may arise when applying just one methodology in the evaluation of public spaces within relevant historical contexts