After decades of benign neglect, a consequence of the anti-urban development policies of the Revolutionary government, the urban landscape of Havana is being transformed as the government and other corporations and groups are re-investing (materially and symbolically) in the built environment and public spaces of the city. Urban redevelopment and economic regeneration are predicated on urban boosterism and place marketing, which are inherently connected to the cultural economy and issues of representation, image production, and identity. Cuba's efforts at aggressively marketing the cultural economy of Havana, through urban redevelopment, heritage preservation, and tourism development, can be seen as an attempt to marshal space and place as a means of capital generation in line with neo-liberal strategies being employed throughout the West. This doctoral dissertation research project examines the changing forms of spatiality, and the role of public spaces in the re-conceptualization of Havana by examining historically, practically, and discursively the production of space in the colonial core of the city with particular attention being paid to changes initiated by the economic crisis of the 1990s. The project focuses on the following questions: 1) Whose history and collective memory will be preserved in the redevelopment process?; 2) Who are the institutional actors and stake holders involved in the redevelopment, and through what modes and methods do they exercise power?; 3) What is the role of public space in urban transformation? Formal and informal interviews with institutional actors, local residents, and tourists; and ethnographic observation of the public spaces of the colonial core will provide the necessary data to interpret the current transitions occurring in Havana. The findings of this research will aid in understanding the ways in which the state has shaped the public spaces of Havana, and the ways these processes are not only fostering new temporal and spatial meanings on the subjects and spaces of the city, but are also providing openings through which the spatial practices of citizens can contest imposed spatial orders.
This research project seeks to suggest some of the ways in which contemporary social theory can contribute to understanding how political, economic, social, and cultural processes are re-conceptualizing Havana through investigating the transformation of its urban landscape and public spaces. Through examining these avenues of inquiry, this proposed study can provide insight into the political transformations that are currently occurring in Cuba that are not readily apparent in existing political-economic studies, in addition to supplying a historical context that is crucial to understanding urban transformation and the future of such a historic city as Havana. Therefore, this project will also add to the literature of post-communist transition studies. In addition to providing evidence of the increasing decentralization of urban governance in Havana, this research will also add to the literature that is examining neoliberal strategies of cultural production, urban redevelopment, heritage preservation, and tourism development that cities world-wide are employing in an increasingly competitive global environment of urban differentiation. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.
