Cartagena maintains permanent cultural activity, diversifies its economy around heritage and encourages it to continue being a space for use and appropriation by the resident population. Credit: Cartagena de Indias Film Commission
Cartagena de Indias is not just a heritage city, that is, a city that stands out for its great historical, architectural and cultural value for society. It is also a World Heritage city, an official and global title that UNESCO grants only to places with exceptional value that belong to all of humanity.
But now, in addition to the multiple recognitions it receives, there is also the fact that it was placed in a special catalog, because of its ability to turn its historic center into a living space that promotes culture, the economy and the participation of its inhabitants. This places it among the most sustainable heritage cities in Latin America and Europe.
That balance was measured through an efficiency model designed by statistician Martin Sebastian Rondon Raigoza, who holds a master’s degree in Economic Sciences from the National University of Colombia (UNAL), who compared 105 heritage cities in Latin America and Europe according to their ability to preserve their historical legacy while generating economic development, social well-being and environmental sustainability.
Cities that dedicate themselves to preserving buildings or attracting tourists
Based on that criterion, Cartagena de Indias ranked seventh, surpassed only by Cuenca (Spain), Camaguey (Cuba), Morelia (Mexico), Bern (Switzerland), Krakow (Poland) and Lyon (France).
Far from depending exclusively on tourism, the capital of the department of Bolivar maintains permanent cultural activity, diversifies its economy around heritage and encourages it to continue being a space for use and appropriation by the resident population, conditions that allowed it to obtain an overall score of 0.96 out of 1, one of the highest in the study, reports the UNAL News Agency.
Rondon Raigoza evaluated cities whose historic centers were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, and identified that many of them concentrate their efforts on preserving buildings or attracting tourists, but few manage to balance that objective with the quality of life of their inhabitants, economic activity, social inclusion and environmental protection.
He compared 73 European and 32 Latin American cities, including Venice, Florence, Siena, Krakow, Cuenca, Lyon, Bern, Cartagena, Cusco, Morelia, Camaguey and Antigua Guatemala.
His analysis was based on the idea that a heritage city is not sustainable simply by preserving its historic buildings, but must also generate economic opportunities, offer decent living conditions, protect the environment and keep its heritage alive through the use and appropriation of the community.
Heritage that is part of everyday life
For this reason, the study evaluated four dimensions: cultural, economic, social and environmental. The results show that Latin American cities obtain better indicators in the cultural dimension, with an average of 0.658 compared with 0.598 for European cities. In contrast, Europe performs better in the social (0.816 compared with 0.720) and economic (0.927 compared with 0.909) dimensions, associated with higher levels of employment, income, security and access to services.
“The cultural advantage of cities such as Cartagena and Cusco lies in the fact that heritage continues to be part of everyday life and does not function only as an attraction for visitors,” said Rondon Raigoza, quoted by the UNAL News Agency.
Traditional festivals, permanent cultural activities, local markets and the continuous use of historic spaces by residents strengthen the link between the community and its heritage, reducing exclusive dependence on international tourism.
Precisely, recent data from the “Cartagena como vamos” program show that although over the last year the city received 5.5 million visitors and consolidated itself as the third Colombian city with the highest arrival of international travelers, 81% of passengers who entered by air were domestic travelers, a dynamic that favors more constant use of the Historic Center by the local population and not only by foreign tourists.
To measure this behavior, Rondon Raigoza designed an efficiency model that incorporates tourist flows as one of the variables of analysis. This does not penalize tourism itself, but rather excessive dependence on foreign visitors as the main driver of heritage activity, since this can turn historic centers into settings oriented almost exclusively toward tourist consumption and reduce their appropriation by those who inhabit them.
However, the study also highlights the main challenges for Latin American cities. Although the economic differences compared with Europe are moderate, higher levels of labor informality, less productive diversification and more limited employment opportunities still persist.