Urban planning challenges in the definition of heritage values in southern Chile. A case study of Valdivia: A wooden city in southern Chile.

• Main Authors: Augustine Yaw Asuah, Gerardo Saelzer, Jilan Hosni, Antonio Ruiz-Tagle
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad del Bío Bío 2019-11-01
• Series: Urbano
• Subjects: Heritage Values; Typical Zone; Wooden cities; Sustainability; Urban Planning
• Online Access: http://revistas.ubiobio.cl/index.php/RU/article/view/3671
• ISSN: 0717-3997; 0718-3607

Historical sites declared as Typical Zones (TZs) – ‘’Zonas Típicas’’- in Southern Chile are subject to urban planning and conservation conflicts that address challenges in heritage restoration and development. The relevance attributed to conservation management in contemporary Chilean cultural policies faces the contextual relationships between institutionalized heritage sites, their definitions, and their territorial context. This research contextualizes the urban planning and cultural heritage definition in Southern Chilean cities where heritage assets are mostly wood-built that are over 100 old. It presents excerpts of a case study focused on the valorization of Valdivia’s TZs due to the projected bridge construction by the Public Works Ministry. The bridge access plans to use part of that historical area. Through cross-disciplinary research analysis, the paper considers the factors taken into consideration within the law on defining TZs and heritage values, and how they affect the protection of the areas of impact regarding the new bridge. The study observed the disconnection of the local definition of heritage, where public spaces and private property are separated concepts in the planning and heritage conservation process. It is therefore important to mention that the definition of heritage in the national legal framework should be connected with the perception and definition of space. Tangible, intangible and environmental values should be identified through the process of declaring TZs and follow territorial planning. Tentatively, this can help understand the entry points that can be used to develop and conserve the cultural landscape for the benefits of Wooden Cities. Interpreting the protected site as a dynamic context, a local model for the protection of heritage values in urban areas of southern Chile, tending towards global and sustainability frameworks, could be initiated.