Planning and heritage integration in multilevel governance: Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract

While in the 90’s strategic became increasingly crucial for Spatial Planning, at the same time in the heritage agenda, the concept of Cultural Landscape was established to broaden the span of values and assets. Since then, during the last decades, planning has adopted methods depending on frameworks, demands and contexts. Heritage, meanwhile, has increasingly paid attention to heritage values in urban areas through the development of theories and practices. In 2011, UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscapes, where heritage is a crucial element for sustainable cities’ development. In this sense, both Strategic Planning and Heritage Management have shifted, not necessarily ‘evolved’ towards methods where a common aspect is the crucial role of actors involved. Through the example of the city of Cuenca in Ecuador, this paper discusses the integration of heritage in the city’s planning and the involvement of different actors within the governance system.