Land use changes on historic urban areas: a curse or a blessing? Querétaro as a case study

Abstract eng:
Historic urban areas are losing their traditional functions and are known for facing pressures by change agents such as tourism. Rapid urban development has proven to negatively affect cultural heritage. In the city of Querétaro, Mexico, the growth of the population and economy has turned the city into a metropolitan area. However, over the last decades more historic areas in Querétaro have been suffering from local population migration and consequently rapid change of uses. Originally, the Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro (HMZQ) was predominantly residential. Today, the share of residential buildings is reduced to nearly two thirds. Changes in land use cause internal and external interventions in buildings to facilitate the integration of the new uses. The present research focuses on understanding the impact of land use changes in the HMZQ, focusing on external interventions. Research revealed that adding new uses to the buildings with residential use, adversely affected the façade attributes of the HMZQ. However, maintaining the original residential use did not seem to safeguard their authenticity. It is evidenced that not all changes of use affect negatively cultural heritage, at least not their external appearance.

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