La Habana - Playa

Abstract

Playa is a large strategic municipality located on the west coast of the Havana metropolitan area. Its cultural richness is surprisingly wide and varied as confirmed by this volume, which aims to define a useful tool to contribute to its conservation and enhancement. The Atlas here presented intends to highlight the components of the territorial heritage of the municipality in terms of resources and potentiality, with the purpose of stimulating and consolidating the community's awareness of the richness of its territory, recognising and giving value to its identity. In this research the territory is considered as a living, complex organism, in continuous transformation, made up of tangible and intangible components, strongly interconnected with each other. This is the reason why the work of surveying has gone beyond the acknowledged heritage, bringing to light the elements generally considered minor, sometimes hidden, those in which in fact the local community often recognizes itself and its values. The methodology is based on a process of in-depth study and analysis of the area which, through exhaustive fieldwork, leads to a cataloguing of all the heritage elements, articulated by type and located on maps. This work, developed thanks to the commitment of a team of Italian and Cubanexperts, is focused on the idea that the local culture, in all its aspects, is a fundamental resource for well-being and a key ingredient for an appropriate and shared sustainable development.