URBAN ANALYSIS OF CUSCO, PERU - URP

UNIVERSIDAD RICARDO PALMA FACULTAD DE ARQUITECTURA Y URBANISMO

Regional and Urban Analysis

THE INCA CITY

Coricancha Temple. Narrated by Pedro Cieza de Leon as a place of ostentatious wealth. Important teaching center of the arts of goldsmithing, and silversmithing, among others. Recognized as a proto-ethnographic center of ceremonial practices in Cusco and other cultures of ancient Peru. Hurtado, H (2020)

Analysis URBAN

Latin American cities have grown without planning or control by government entities, resulting in a horizontal, disorganized growth that drags problems such as informal occupation, lack of basic services and inefficient transportation routes, among others.

Because of the above, Cusco, as a medium-sized city, is in time to integrate solutions that contribute to adequate growth that guarantees the quality of life of its inhabitants. The Velasco Astete airport site is presented as an opportunity to make up for the shortcomings of the city of Cusco, being the main area to intervene with an area of 12 hectares located in the southern center of the city.

Ventura, Hardy @ventura_hardy

Cardenas, Frans @frans.cardenas

Paniagua, Jean Marco @jeanmarco_paniagua

Gutiérrez, Camila @astridakemy

Figueroa, Julio @juda2000juda

URBAN Analysis

INDEX

1. LOCATION

2. REGIONAL SCALE

• Topography

• Ecology

• Hydrography

• Risk Areas

3. METROPOLITAN SCALE

• Zoning

• Equipment

• Urban Profile

• Urban Components

• Urban Growth

4. NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE

• Inmediate Environment

• Public Space

• Architectural Analysis - Airport

5. VEGETATION CATALOG

LOCATION

01. NATION // DEPARTMENT

Corresponding to the national scale, it is understood that Peru belongs to the southern hemisphere of the American continent. It is separated internally by 24 departments, of which Lima is the capital. The present analysis is located in the department of Cusco, which belongs to the highland region, and shows in this figure the connection between the department of Lima and the department of Cusco with their respective airports.

02. DEPARTMENT // PROVINCE

Once introduced in the department of Cusco, we find that it is divided into a total of 13 provinces located at 3,399 meters above sea level. Among them, the province of Cusco stands out, which is located at an intermediate point of the Department.

03. PROVINCE // DISTRICTS CITY

The province of Cusco is subdivided in the interior with 8 districts, of which only 5 of them are the ones that allow the conformation of the city of Cusco, these same are: Cusco, Wánchaq, Santiago, San Sebastian, and San Jerónimo.

04. DISTRICTS + CITY // NEIGHBORHOOOD

Spread across the topographic plains, and with a pre-Columbian legacy, the city of Cusco is presented with an irregular morphology on its edges. It is in the middle of it where the Teniente Velazco Astete International Airport is located. It is the main point of arrival for anyone who wants to visit the Inca city.

05. NEIGHBORHOOD // SITE

Considering an emphasis on one block around, the neighborhood is mainly made up of residential settlements, so there is no buffer zone around it. Within the airport’s own grounds, there is a territory of 1.25 km2 dedicated entirely to the competition.

TOPOGRAPHY

01. TOPOGRAPHICAL LANDMARKS

The city of Cusco is located in the Vilcanota mountain range, one of the most important mountain systems in Peru, and is surrounded by Apus of great cultural value.

The Apus are considered deities according to the Andean cosmovision. Social and religious rituals are performed in them, generally in the month of August: the end of the Andean year.

01. TOPOGRAPHICAL LANDMARKS

02. TOPOGRAPHIC SECTIONS

ECOLOGY

02. PROBLEM

In 2018, there was a loss of 0.13% of the protected ecological area. This percentage represents the annual loss in reserve.

The conservation corridor includes the maintenance of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem and the Choquequirao and Machu Picchu water reservoirs.

01. VILCANOTA ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM The department’s protected areas are part of the Vilcabamba-Amboro conservation corridor.

HYDROGRAPHY

01. HYDROGRAPHIC NETWORK

The hydrographic system of the province of Cusco is made up of two basins: the Apurimac basin, which covers the province of Ccorca, and the main basin, the Vilcanota basin, whose rivers mostly cross urban areas and define its morphology. Within the latter, the most important sub-basin is that of the Huatanay River.

02. USES

The water system in Cusco is predominantly used for 1. livestock farming, 2. non-intensive agriculture, and finally, 3. domestic use in urban areas

The water supply system for the city of Cusco is predominantly supplied by the water extracted from the Piuray lagoon, which corresponds to 44.7% of the total supply of the province, and and from the treatment plant located in Piñaalgo that uses the rivers of the system.

RISK AREAS

01. LANDSLIDE RISK

The airport site is located in a low landslide zone within the study zone proposed by the Action Plan of the Municipality of Cusco (2017).

KEYS MEDIUM RISK HIGH RISK

SAFE AREA

FLOOD ZONE VELAZCO ASTETE AIRPORT

The figure shows the magnitude of a 100-year flood event. While the predictions for a 10-year event are similar but of lesser magnitude.

SAFE AREA

FLOOD RISK

According to the Action Plan of the Municipality of Cusco (2017), the Huantanay River is the main cause of flooding in the urban sector.

HUANTANAY RIVER

ZONING

The city of Cusco contains a variety of land uses due to its cultural and historical characteristics. The largest number of land uses are residential, especially medium-density residential and lowdensity residential: in second place is the land use of zonal trade found in central areas of the city; land uses with greater dispersion and with great importance is the education and health and finally,

the land use of industry which is found in lower percentage, however, each of the land uses of the city of Cusco are important and are connected to the growth of the population.

Hospital Nacional “Adolfo Guevara Velasco”

Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco

Planta de Producción de Cerveza Cuzqueña

Real Plaza Cusco

Hospital Regional del Cusco

Colegio Nacional Inca Garcilaso de la Vega

Colegio Clorinda Matto de Turner

Cuartel del ejercito del Perú

Centro

Penitenciario

Qqenccoro

Hospital Antonio Lorena del Cusco

EDUCATION EQUIPMENT

The most important educational institution near the study area is the Colegio Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, which, although its infrastructure is not ideal, concentrates a large number of students. Likewise, the universities are concentrated in the western part of the city, near the downtown area, with the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad being one of the main and most important in the area.

HEALTH EQUIPMENT

Much of the health equipment (mainly hospitals) is densified in the center of the city, which results in a lack of health equipment for the population living in the outlying areas of the city.

URBAN PROFILE

01. SECTION A-A

The section crosses the two main squares of the city, which are the main square where the cathedral is located and the San Francisco square, the same ones that concentrate the majority of tourist visits when they visit the city.

SECTION B-B

02. SECTION B-B

The section crosses the main square of Cusco, the convent of Santo Domingo, which is part of one of the most important religious buildings of the Incas, which is the Koricancha.

SECTION C-C

International Airport

Teniente Alejandro Velazco Astete

02. SECTION C-C

The section crosses the study area, Which includes the main roads of the city and the Alejandro Velasco intertional airport.

URBAN COMPONENTS

Based on the theory proposed by Kevin Lynch, we highlight the existence of components that allow us to understand the development of the city such as: Paths: Understood in this aspect

as the paths that form the main automobile roads, we manage to notice how 2 of the main roads (Av. De la Cultura and Vía Expresa) generate the expansion axis that seems to

have a beginning in the urban hull. Edges: These are highlighted from the separations by districts and by the limit of the city itself, even so, there are computerized urbanizations

that settle in these same edges, making the city go through a process of constant conurbation.

Nodes: These were able to be traced from messages sent from

different cell phones, resulting in a cartography that allows us to locate the largest number of people located between the Teniente Alejandro Velazco Astete International Airport,

Wánchaq Station and the urban center.

Landmarks: These are distributed around the city but like the previous highlighted points, they have a close relationship in the urban core.

URBAN GROWTH

The urban growth of the city of Cusco, until before the decade of 1950 (the year in which there is a strong earthquake that leaves several monuments of the pre-Columbian

stage) had retained the physiognomy belonging to the eighteenth century. It is only from this same one that the city generates a considerable expansion towards the plains of its agricultural

zone, taking with itself part of the hillsides until it became the city that it is today. This same one was generated with constant conurbations, which unified urbanizations that grew peripherally.

SURROUNDING ROADS

Regarding the roads surrounding the Teniente Alejandro Velazco Astete International Airport, only one of them is fully connected to the airport. This is Avenida Velazco Astete (Figure 1 and 3). Behind the runway is the Vía Expresa (Figure 2), which is connected to the urban area and crosses the entire city. In comparison, Avenida Velazco Astete is in better condition than the Vía Expresa in terms of finishes and materiality.

PUBLIC SPACE

01. GENERAL PROBLEM

The city of Cusco has a deficit in public areas for recreation and leisure, aggravated by the rapid expansion of the city of Cusco, whose frenetic growth does not allocate enough space for public areas. One of the solutions presented by the provincial municipality of Cusco is the use of public funds to reduce the deficit of public space as well as housing and infrastructure for the city. Within this group, the most important is the Teniente

03. ROAD SECTIONS

Alejandro Velasco Ateste International Airport, with an area of 12 hectares, a central location within the urban area, and plans to move the airport to the city of Chincheros in Urubamba, Cusco.

02.SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

[ 1 ] INSUFFICIENT PEDESTRIAN SPACE

Small sidewalks and berms mean that pedestrians use the vehicular roadway for pedestrian traffic.

[

3 ] INFORMAL COMMERCE ON SIDEWALKS

[

4 ] ENCROACHMENT ALONG THE RIVERBANKS

Presence of houses in areas near the Huantanay River

[

6 ] OBSTRUCTED AND SLIPPERY PAVEMENT

[

5 ] NON-EXISTENT AND POORLY DESIGNED RAMPS

Some intersections are not adequately sized for the proper design of ramps.

The pavement has electricity poles and other obstructive elements that do not allow free transit. In addition, the rough surface becomes a risk when it rains.

INMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT

The analysis of the immediate environment is based on the following guidelines:

01. ZONING

A large concentration of housing (medium-density residences and low-density residences) and a commercial area on top of the runway would give us to understand of the notorious lack of a buffer zone.

02. ROAD FLOWS

Regarding flows, traffic manages to stay within parameters that would classify it between fast or medium fast traffic, so this same issue is not postulated as a latent problem.

03. NOLLI

When comparing the table of full and empty spaces, we were able to highlight the large accumulation of small empty spaces scattered around the blocks. And where the empty spaces manage to take up a greater amount of area in the areas of a commercial character.

Teniente Alejandro Velazco

Astete International Airport

Belonging to the era of ModernPeruvian architecture, the building was part of the work of architects Arana, C. Orrego, A. and Torres, J. and was inaugurated in 1964. At that time, Peru’s president was the architect Fernando Belaunde Terry, who at its inauguration praised the airport with his speech:

“They have not copied the old monument, they have created a new one. But they have been inspired by the eternal aesthetic values of Cuzco and although we do not find here the trapezoidal span, we do feel a certain Cuzco majesty. We see the same sobriety and the same solemn rhythm of the niches of the Colcanpata, Limatambo, and Vilcashuaman niches. They have learned the aesthetic and artistic lesson of immortal Peru and now with this cultural baggage they have given us the new, demonstrating that the creative faculty has not fallen asleep in the intelligence of the Peruvians, demonstrating that it is possible to make a modern monument of the XX century that is a tribute to the centuries of the past greatness of Peru”.

ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS

01. IMMEDIATE ENVIRONMENT

The Velazco Astete international airport is located in front of the existence of prior parking lots, Which are required for the daily capacity of travelers it receives. These condition that the vehicular access is on the sides of the airport block; while pedestrian arrival is quite reduced, having narrow sidewalks as a means of circulation and a small square in the central axis of the project.

The Velazco Astete Airport block is observed as a regular and simple solid, characteristic of the architectural examples of the Modern Movement. In its shape, the rhythm and pattern marked by elements such as columns and post-tensioned beams are also highlighted, which allows a multiplicity of accesses to be extended to its main façade to streamline the flow of entry to the building in its extensive horizontality

The relationship between the Velazco Astete airport and its exterior components is highlighted by the autonomy of its parts, having the parking lots as an almost independent area from which it is accessed with a general view of the entire airport. Thus serving the premeditated order that there should be in this type of architectural use: A quick arrival at the parking lot followed by locating the closest entrance to reach the counters and thus boarding most efficiently.

02. FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION

On the first level is the counter area extended along the façade and after the entrance, within which travel management activities are carried out, so it is practical that they are attached to the administrative offices.

These offices occupy a closed area for greater privacy, while the boarding area located next to it is characterized by being a block without dividing walls and with abundant light sources.

The vertical accesses (stairs) are distributed evenly throughout the entire floor for better accessibility; and under the same criteria, the toilet block was located at the central point of the airport.

The second level proposal repeats the programming, with the absence of the counter area and instead it locates a double-height void to achieve visual connections and respond to bioclimatic conditions.

03. USER FLOWS

After analyzing the flow of travelers that the airport receives daily, it was found that:

1. The access flows extend throughout the counter area, this due to its proposal of multiple accesses along the façade.

2. The access flows continue on the second level through a main staircase located in the central area of the airport.

3. The boarding flows are divided into those on the first and second levels, with greater permeability on the ground floor, while on the second floor some flows are destined for a viewing terrace and the rest for the boarding.

REFERENCES

2. REGIONAL SCALE

Banco Interamericano de desarrollo. (2017). Plan de Acción Cusco: Para un crecimiento urbano sostenible.https://issuu.com/ ciudadesemergentesysostenibles/docs/2015_cusco_per_pub17_ces

Figueroa, J. (2013) Presencia del oso andino Tremarctos ornatus (Carnívora: Ursidae) en el Corredor de Conservación Vilcabamba–Amboró, sureste del Perú. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273052467_Presencia_del_oso_andino_Tremarctos_ornatus_Carnivora_Ursidae_en_ el_Corredor_de_Conservacion_Vilcabamba-Amboro_sureste_del_Peru

Municipalidad provincial de cusco. (2023) Subcomponente agua y cambio climático. https://www.cusco.gob.pe/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2-33-sub-componente-agua-y-cambio-climatico.pdf

Sistema Nacional de Información Ambiental. (2017) Cobertura y Pérdida de Bosques de Cusco. https://sinia.minam.gob.pe/documentos/coberturaperdida-bosques-cusco

Ministerio de cultura. (2020) Antología con los apus del Cusco. https://issuu.com/drccusco/docs/apus

3. METROPOLITAN SCALE

Banco Interamericano de desarrollo. (2017). Plan de Acción Cusco: Para un crecimiento urbano sostenible.https://issuu.com/ ciudadesemergentesysostenibles/docs/2015_cusco_per_pub17_ces

Palomino, T. (2023) Crecimiento Urbano en el valle del Cusco. https://issuu.com/caminantescusco/docs/caminando_hacemos_cultura/s/13403032

4. NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE

Banco Interamericano de desarrollo. (2017). Plan de Acción Cusco: Para un crecimiento urbano sostenible. https://issuu.com/ ciudadesemergentesysostenibles/docs/2015_cusco_per_pub17_ces

Municipalidad de Cusco. (2013) Plan de desarrollo urbano provincia cusco 2013-2023..https://cusco.gob.pe/gerencia-de-desarrollo-urbano-y-rural/ sub-gerencia-de-ordenamiento-territorial/01-plan-de-desarrollo-urbano-provincia-cusco-2013-2023/

5. VEGETATION CATALOG

Chong, G. (2013) Arboles en Lima. https://issuu.com/residente/docs/arboles_de_lima/33