The social life of Havana's seawall // La vida del Malecón Habanero

The social life of Havana’s seawall La vida del Malecón Habanero Using social life research to inform climate change adaptation planning Cristina Bejarano MCP/MLA Thesis UC Berkeley 2018

The social life of Havana’s seawall La vida del Malecón Habanero Using social life research to inform climate change adaptation planning By Cristina Nicole Bejarano

A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degrees of Master of City Planning and Master of Landscape Architecture in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Louise Mozingo, Chair Professor Danika Cooper Professor Elizabeth MacDonald Spring 2018

The social life of Havana’s seawall La vida del Malecón Habanero Using social life research to inform climate change adaptation planning by Cristina Nicole Bejarano Master of City Planning and Master of Landscape Architecture University of California, Berkeley Professor Louise Mozingo, Chair

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACTO

Coastal cities in the US and around the world today face unprecedented challenges in adapting their infrastructure to climate change impacts like sea level rise and more frequent, intense storm surges. Governments made huge financial investments to build the infrastructure of what we consider to be “developed” cities. But clearly there are new eras of development on the horizon. Cities will soon face major decisions about how to address the need for even larger investments to rebuild and adapt their infrastructure over time.

Las ciudades costeras en los Estados Unidos y en todo el mundo enfrentan hoy desafíos sin precedentes en la adaptación de su infraestructura a los impactos del cambio climático como el aumento del nivel del mar y las oleadas de tormentas más frecuentes e intensas. Los gobiernos hicieron enormes inversiones financieras para construir la infraestructura de lo que consideramos ciudades “desarrolladas”. Pero claramente hay nuevas eras de desarrollo en el horizonte. Las ciudades pronto enfrentarán decisiones importantes sobre cómo abordar la necesidad de inversiones aún mayores para reconstruir y adaptar su infraestructura a lo largo del tiempo.

Havana, Cuba’s capital city, has many centuries of experience with coastal fortification and adaptation. In 1825, Alexander von Humboldt wrote poetically about the layers of geologic and manmade fortifications that shaped the city’s port. More

La Habana, la capital de Cuba, tiene muchos siglos de experiencia en fortificación y adaptación costera. En 1825, Alexander von 1

recently, scholars have documented a fascination with Cuba’s romantic decay in the 20th century in film and literature. In particular, many artistic representations of the city have focused on Havana’s weather-beaten seawall, known as the Malecón, from which one can see the skyline of the city and its layers of architectural history. Today the Malecón is a destination for many international tourists and a major draw to the city, and tourism has become an important part of Cuba’s economy.

Beyond a romantic appreciation of history, I argue that there is something important to learn from Havana about the adaptation and reuse of the built environment over time. Those historical lessons can help inspire a plan for the future. Like other cities, Havana will have to further adapt its infrastructure. By building on the layers of the past, physically and metaphorically, the city will be able to continue its long tradition as an important coastal city.

This study addresses not only the architectural transformations the Malecón will need to undergo, but also how to maintain and support the rich social and cultural uses of the place. Based on data collected from first-hand observations and interviews with people about their time spent along the seawall, I developed a set of personas by synthesizing what I learned about movement patterns and cultural connections to the place. This work helped shape a Social Life Performance Matrix that can be used to

Humboldt escribió poéticamente sobre las capas de fortificaciones geológicas y artificiales que formaban el puerto de la ciudad. Más recientemente, los estudiosos han documentado una fascinación por la decadencia romántica de Cuba en el siglo XX en el cine y la literatura. En particular, muchas representaciones artísticas de la ciudad se han centrado en el malecón habanero, conocido como el Malecón, desde donde se puede ver el horizonte de la ciudad y sus capas de historia arquitectónica. Hoy el Malecón es un destino para muchos turistas internacionales y un gran atractivo para la ciudad, y el turismo se ha convertido en una parte importante de la economía cubana.

Más allá de una apreciación romántica de la historia, sostengo que hay algo importante que aprender de La Habana sobre la adaptación y la reutilización del entorno construido a lo largo del tiempo. Esas lecciones históricas pueden ayudar a inspirar un plan para el futuro. Al igual que otras ciudades, La Habana tendrá que adaptar aún más su infraestructura. Al construir sobre las capas del pasado, física y metafóricamente, la ciudad podrá continuar su larga tradición como una importante ciudad costera.

Este estudio aborda no solo las transformaciones arquitectónicas que el Malecón deberá experimentar, sino también cómo mantener y apoyar los ricos usos sociales y culturales del lugar.

Con base en datos recopilados de observaciones de primera mano y entrevistas con personas sobre el tiempo que pasaron a lo 2

evaluate design adaptation options for the seawall. I propose an alternative design scheme that avoids architectural retreat, and instead adapts the edge of the city within the boulevard right-of-way. This phased, adaptive design for Havana’s Malecón supports its famed social and cultural uses throughout incremental implementation. Finally, I suggest that the next step for this project should involve returning the social and cultural interpretations back to the visitors of the Malecón via an exhibition.

largo del dique, desarrollé un conjunto de personas al sintetizar lo que aprendí sobre los patrones de movimiento y las conexiones culturales con el lugar. Este trabajo ayudó a dar forma a una matriz de desempeño de vida social que se puede utilizar para evaluar las opciones de adaptación de diseño para el malecón.

Propongo un esquema de diseño alternativo que evita la retirada arquitectónica y, en su lugar, adapta el borde de la ciudad dentro del derecho de paso del bulevar. Este diseño gradual y adaptable para el Malecón habanero respalda sus usos sociales y culturales famosos durante la implementación incremental. Finalmente, sugiero que el próximo paso para este proyecto sea devolver las interpretaciones sociales y culturales a los visitantes del Malecón a través de una exhibición.

3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments ii Introduction 1 Site History and Analysis

3

Theoretical Framework

18

Research Methods

21

Social Life Survey Results

29

Interpreted Personas

36

Social Life Performance Matrix

36

Design Options

39

Conclusions

45

Next steps in Havana: The exhibit

47

References 48 Appendix 50

i

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to the academic senate committee members who guided my work throughout the completion of this research, Louise Mozingo, Elizabeth MacDonald, and Danika Cooper.

I would also like to thank Ghigo DiTommaso, and the larger ecosystem of UC Berkeley scholars who gave me wonderful feedback, including Kristina Hill, Peter Bosselmann, Susan Moffat, Walter Hood, Richard Hindle, Randy Hester and Marcia McNally. Thank you for sharing your expertise and enthusiasm for my work.

Special thanks also to the community of Cuban scholars from the Oficina del plan maestro and CUJAE who welcomed my ideas and gave me hope for the future of shared learning between cities that face similar climate change challenges.

As a member of the Cuban diaspora, my research in Havana is unavoidably influenced by the stories I’ve heard of my mother’s early years in Cuba, from 1953 when she was born, to 1968 when she emigrated to Charlotte, North Carolina. Many people have asked me if my family is pro- or anti-Castro, and it’s too complicated for me to say. My mother passed away from cancer in 2004, so I can’t ask her directly, but from the stories she told me, I can say that any anger she felt at having lost her home was greatly outweighed by, and perhaps even fueled, her love of Cuba as a country and as a culture. It may be that what stuck with her most was a distaste for politics in general. I mention this as an explanation for why I’m focusing my research not on the high-level, political history which is most commonly debated, but instead on what takes place on the ground, as an effort to document the daily life of those “behind the wall.”1

Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially my husband and my sister, for accompanying me to Havana, sharing their ideas, and showing unwavering support for and confidence in my work.

1 The Bienal de la Habana named its international art exhibition on the Malecón, “Behind the Wall, Detrás del Muro.”

ii

Figure 1: Havana’s Malecón today INTRODUCTION

Havana’s iconic seawall, known as the Malecón Habanero, consists of a simple concrete wall, hugging the tilde-shaped coast with little variation in design for five miles (eight kilometers) between the Almendares river and the entrance to Havana’s harbor. The Malecón is particularly rich in social activity, a focal point for social interaction and a major connector for the city. As an urban waterfront, it also provides a public space for personal or social interaction with the ocean, either by swimming, fishing, or simply gazing out across the skyline or across the open water. However,

this structure is failing due to age and years of flooding and hurricane damage. Climate change effects like increased storm surge and sea level rise will make this failure increasingly critical, demanding adaptation.

In Cuba, the planning department relies on the research and recommendations of various government agencies and their collaborations with local and international universities. While engineers, meteorologists, and architects participate in the 1

development of climate adaptation planning, there isn’t yet an established connection to experts in the study of social life.

In this thesis I address the importance of including social life research as part of any future adaptation strategies. I employ a variety of data collection methods and representation styles to analyze and interpret the data collection findings. I then use these interpretations to shape a social performance matrix that can guide and evaluate the development of the adaptation designs.

By revealing the intricate social patterns that contribute to the vibrancy of the Malecón, I show how future adaptation efforts can build in tune with those patterns to prevent unintended social displacement and ensure a successful continuity of social vibrancy throughout the adaptation process.

Who is studying social life?

Civil Defense Disaster Recovery

Architecture Dept

Meteorology Institute Transportation Dept Civil Engineering Dept Figure 2: Advisory departments report to the planning department in Havana based on research and analysis of the Malecón.

What can we learn from the existing patterns of social vibrancy along Havana’s seawall that will inform future coastal adaptations?

Figure 3: A typical evening along the Malecón today. Photo published by the Boston Globe.

2

SITE HISTORY AND ANALYSIS

The city of Havana faces the ocean just where the Gulf Stream emerges from the Gulf of Mexico. Historically, this strategic location for maritime trade has depended on an effective coastal fortification system. In 1825, Alexander von Humboldt described it as “the beautiful port of Havana, fortified both by nature and by many works of manmade artistry” (Humboldt, Kutzinski, and Ette 2011). The “natural” fortification, and what later became the foundation for the seawall, consists of a Jurassic limestone geologic layer, “a ridge of cavernous rocks covered with vibrant green seaweed and living coral, there are a great many madrepores and other lithophyte corals…” (Humboldt, Kutzinski, and Ette 2011). At the time that Humboldt visited the city the “manmade artistry” he witnessed would have been the series of forts and walls built in the 1700s by the Spanish, many of which still stand today and are protected as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The seawall was not yet built at the time, and in Havana, as in cities across Europe, great importance was placed on areas with fresh air both for public health and general comfort. “Here, as in our European cities, the network of poorly laid out streets can only slowly be corrected... When yellow fever reigns in Havana, people retire where the air is purer... the paseo extra muros has deliciously fresh air; after sunset, it bustles with carriages” (Humboldt, Kutzinski, and Ette 2011).

Havana

Figure 4: Havana, Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico today

Figure 5: Plan of Havana from Humboldt’s Political Essay on Cuba

3

Figure 6: USACE drawing entitled, “Section and Perspective of Gulf Avenue” from a Civil Report on Cuba, 1901.

Figure 7: A USACE plan of Havana showing street improvement plans, noteably the first segment of the malecón, 1901.

Figures 8, 9: USACE photos of Havana’s coast before and during the construction of the seawall, 1901.

4

the overall design of the Malecón has not changed much since the 1950s, it does undergo a constant investment in patch and repair work after flooding events and hurricanes.

Figure 10: The first segment of the Malecón after its completion. Postcard printed in 1926.

The expansion of the seawall and boulevard which together make up the Malecón coincided with a boom of coastal development.

The buildings facing the boulevard were filled in to create a consistent frontage in a colonial style. The western residential neighborhood, Vedado, was built up most extensively after the western expansion of the seawall in the 1950s. Further west, Miramár and other suburbs grew in this period as well (Garcia 2015).

Connections and Morphology

After the Spanish-American War ended in 1898, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) initiated a series of public infrastructure projects (Barden 1901). The USACE sought to improve circulation by repaving roads, and to reduce the spread of disease by improving drainage and sewage systems (Garcia 2015).

A major part of this investment in public infrastructure was the “Gulf seawall,” known today as the Malecón, which was built over several phases beginning in 1901 and fully completed once it reached the mouth of the Almendares river in 1952. Although

The Malecón connects the neighborhood of La Habana Vieja, the colonial city which faces the port, to the western suburbs at the Almendares River. Moving from East to West, the morphology of the city grid changes from the cobbled streets of the Spanish colonial center, to a dense low-lying area in Central Havana originally settled by those outside of the colonial wall, and then changes again to a rational grid infused with parks and boulevards, each reflecting the historical and political eras in which those neighborhoods were developed.

In addition to its important role for the circulation of the city, the Malecón also connects a series of monuments, parks, and concert 5

El Malecón Havana, Cuba

Vedado

Centro Habana

La Habana Vieja

venues along the boulevard and is an important open space in the city. Moving along the waterfront, the wide panoramic views open up, shifting focus from the ocean to the long weather-worn facade of the city that follows the edge of the street. It is popular for tourists to pay for a taxi ride in a restored vintage Buick just to drive down the Malecón, to see and be seen against the skyline of the city. And yet what draws the most attention and activity along the length of the Malecón are the people walking along the sidewalks and using the seawall’s ledge for many different activities.

Scale Comparison between Havana and San Francisco

The Embarcadero San Francisco, US

Figure 11: Scale comparison between Havana, Cuba and San Francisco, California

The Malecón in Havana is about 5 miles in length, compared to the 3-mile long seawall in San Francisco, known as the Embarcadero. The character of the two seawalls is very different despite the relatively similar scale. In SF, the Embarcadero faces the bay and is protected from the high energy waves and winds from the Pacific Ocean, whereas the Malecón is exposed to intense wind and wave action. The Embarcadero anchors many wharfs which were built to serve the since-decommissioned Port area, whereas the Malecón was built with the intention of providing pedestrian access to the water’s edge. Despite the major differences, the seawalls both serve an important role in connecting very different neighborhoods in their respective cities, and today, provide a major recreation opportunity for residents and visitors. Many of the methods used to understand how the 6

Malecón is used, could be applied to the Embarcadero to help plan its future coastal adaptation as well.

Flooding and Global Investment Trigger Coastal Adaptation

The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sea level rise projections and the increasing frequency and intensity of storms throughout the Caribbean leave no doubt that Havana is entering a new era of coastal fortification.

Low-lying areas adjacent to the Malecón experience seasonal flooding primarily due to wave overtopping at the seawall. But the flooding patterns along the Malecón are not only a result of the storm surges related to hurricanes. According to a 2012 Climate Change report published jointly by various agencies in the Cuban government (Gutiérrez 2012), the Malecón experiences a significant damage from moderate frontal systems in which winds average only 10 m/s (22 mph). At this wind speed, the steep slope of the coast causes a larger sea level increase in this area compared to other parts of the city. This larger sea level swell produces very large waves which overtop the seawall with increasing frequency.

Like other coastal cities around the world, Havana must decide how it will respond to these climate change risks. The city currently funds an expensive cycle of patch and repair efforts after flooding events. Cuba’s social programs related to emergency

Figure 12: Flooding trends from 1901 to 2011 along the Malecón (Level 1 indicates moderate flooding and 2 indicates extensive flooding). Gutiérrez 2012.

Figure 13: Summary of annual wind patterns in Havana, Cuba

7

Castillo del Morro La Piragua Avenida de los Presidentes

Avenida Paseo

Parque Coppelia

Hotel Nacional

VEDADO

Parque Antonio Maceo

La Rampa

Habana Libre

Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras CENTRO HABANA

Universidad de la Habana

Torreón de la Chorrera

Rio Almendares

Paseo del Prado

El Capitolio

HABANA VIEJA

Alameda de Paula

Castillo del Príncipe

Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón

Monumento José Martí

MIRAMAR (PLAYA)

Figure 14: The Malecón today, showing the extents of flooding damage after Hurricane Irma.

8

70% of buildings in a state of disrepair

Figures 15-18: Photos from Hurricane Irma, which damaged Havana in September 2017.

Figures 19-23: Diagram and supporting images from a study on the conditions of waterfront buildings by Lloga-Fernandez, Rolando And Sanchez-Martinez, Olivia.

El Malecรณn Tradicional de La Habana. Sostenibilidad de una zona urbana vulnerable.

9

response are effective, but the cycle of evacuating and rebuilding homes and properties in the flood zones is costly. The demand and cost of construction materials on the island is very high, preventing many local people from fully rebuilding their homes on their own.

Despite the known flooding risks along the Malecón, large highend hotel developments are currently under construction in high-

+Flooding Damage Extents

Figure 25: Rendering of the Prado y Malecón hotel development which is already under construction.

+Major Investments: Under Construction Recently Completed

Prado y Malecón Hotel Packard

La Abadia

Hotel Regis

Hotel Manzana

Figure 24: Diagram of the flooding damage extents after Hurricane Irma and major global investments currently under construction and recently completed.

risk areas. Global private investment in Cuba has been limited in the past, but with changes in economic policies in the past ten years, the tourism economy is expected to grow steadily.

Due to flood damage and an influx of private capital, the Malecón and its adjacent neighborhoods are expected to be repaired and redeveloped over time. The planning department has developed a fairly open policy for the development of the Malecón. Generally, buildings that can be saved based on their structural condition are preserved, and others can be torn down and rebuilt much taller, as long as the ground floor retains its colonial character (Padrón Lottí et al. 2014). This infill development approach 10

Recent studies

La alamed da…un na prop puesta atrevid da

makes large-scale coastal adaptation difficult to plan and makes the development of a phased, incremental approach all the more important.

As part of my archival research while visiting Havana in January of 2018, I spoke with a doctoral architecture student at the Universidad Tecnológica de la Habana José Antonio Echeverría (CUJAE), whose dissertation work focuses on the deterioration of the structures along the Malecón. He shared a study with me completed by a CUJAE architecture research studio in 2012, which produced three urban design adaptation proposals.

To my surprise, the proposals focused primarily on various forms of retreat from the edge. In the first option the entire row of blocks facing the edge would be demolished and converted into an open green space, in the second some newer buildings (mostly hotels) would remain in an open field of green space, and in the third scheme, the buildings facing the sea would remain, but the boulevard along the Malecón would be rerouted behind the block, requiring the demolition of buildings. It seems unlikely that such an iconic place in a city known for its layers of architectural history would chose to demolish buildings and retreat from the edge, especially given the importance of international hotel investments that support the country’s tourism industry.

Current studies focus on retreat

Fig. 78. Planta del conjunto urb

Fig. 79. Vista aérea del con

Figures 26, 27: Plan and rendering of the retreat option that would demolish the entire row of blocks facing the Malecón designed by a CUJAE studio in 2012.

PROPUESTAS DE ACTUACIÓN URBA

11

Balancing the preservation of historic structures with necessary coastal adaptations to protect the urban edge poses a great challenge. The CUJAE perspective was helpful in shaping my own design recommendations, which strive to avoid architectural retreat and erasure of the city, by instead adding a new layer in the landscape.

Past Unbuilt plans

While there have been many alternative plans produced for the seawall since its first conception in 1901, none have been built because of political and economic challenges on the island.

Landscape architect Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier moved to Havana in 1925 and after re-designing the Paseo del Prado was commissioned to improve other boulevards in the city as well, including the Malecón. However, the Depression of 1929 prevented the plans from being implemented. Later, the modernist Josep Lluís Sert also produced plans for the city that included building a floating park in the bay facing the Malecón; but again political conditions interfered. The Sert plan was abandoned after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 (Gómez Díaz 2007).

Many historians agree that in retrospect, it was in Cuba’s best interest that those developments did not proceed, especially those from the urban renewal era in the late 1950s. Similar

Figures 28, 29: Sert’s urban renewal plan, 1959. Forestier’s Hausmannian plan for Havana, 1925.

12

planning efforts implemented in the US around the same era destroyed neighborhoods, and many cities are still struggling to rebuild and recover from those past decisions. However, Havana cannot continue to rely on patching and repairing its existing infrastructure for much longer.

Past planning efforts in Havana, both built and unbuilt, can teach us a great deal. Adaptations should be incremental and allow for gradual changes to occur across multiple building types. Designs should be robust enough to withstand strong wind and wave action, and ideally, they should protect adjacent areas of the city as well. Designs that reduce the amount of operational energy required, meaning designs that use minimal or no large-scale pumping, and designs that maximize the use of local materials would also greatly improve the feasibility and likelihood of implementation.

Figures 30-33: Lebbeus Woods drawings for a seawall design in Havana, 2010.

13

±

±

OLD HAVANA AND ITS FORTIFICATIONS (Retrospec�ve inventory) 23°10'4

23°10'4

23°10'40"N

82°19'45"W

82°18'50"W

82°17'55"W

204-008 204-008

±

23°9'45"N

the Malecón, it could be a model for developing an international assistance program that invests in and supports an adaptation project to protect the city’s edge.

23°9'45

23°9'45

UNESCO Property extent

204-005 23°10'4

in La Habana Vieja

204-002 204-003

204-008

204-004

23°8'50 23°8'50"N

23°8'50 Can

al

de

This is a crucial time for the planning effort to evaluate how to preserve historical structures and design an adaptation that improves the seawall’s function as a coastal defense. A holistic, creative approach is necessary to strike a balance between preservation and adaptation of the city’s coast.

lP

ue

rto

23°9'45

Legend

Legend

204-006

World Heritage Property (238.7 Ha)

World Heritage Property (238.7 Ha)

Buffer zone (412.4 Ha)

204-001

204-001 204-002 204-003 204-004 204-005 204-006 204-007

La Habana Vieja Cas�llo de los Tres Reyes del Morro Fortaleza San Carlos de la Cabaña 204-007 Hornabeque de San Diego or Fuerte Nº4 Fuerte Nº1 Torreón de San Lázaro Cas�llo de Santa Dorotea de Luna de La Chorrera 204-008 Cas�llo de Cojímar 204-009 Polvorín de San Antonio 204-010 Cas�llo deLegend Santo Domingo de Atarés 204-011 Cas�llo del Príncipe World Heritage Property (238.7 Ha) Map produced

by Plan Maestro

Buffer zone (412.4 Ha)

Bahía de La Habana

204-001 204-002 204-003 204-004 204-005 204-006 204-007

204-011

23°7'55

23°7'55"N

23°7'0"N

2°19'45"W

82°18'50"W

Office of the City Historian of Havana Buffer zone (412.4 Ha) Date: January 2015

23°8'50

Ensenada de Guasabacoa

Map produced by Plan Maestro Office of the City Historian of Havana Date: January 2015

204-009 23°7'0"N

204-001 La Habana Vieja Escala: 1:35 000 204-002 de 0 145 290 Cas�llo 580 870los Tres 1160 Reyes del Morro Meters 204-003 Fortaleza San Carlos de la Cabaña 204-004 Hornabeque de San Diego or Fuerte Nº4 82°17'55"W 204-005 Fuerte Nº1 82°24'20"W 82°23'25"W 204-006 Torreón de San Lázaro 204-007 Cas�llo de Santa Dorotea de Luna de La Chorrera 204-008 Cas�llo de Cojímar 204-009 Polvorín de San Antonio 204-010 Cas�llo de Santo Domingo de Atarés 204-011 Cas�llo del Príncipe

Map produced by Plan Maestro Office of the City Historian of Havana Date: January 2015

204-008 204-009 204-010 204-011

Ensenada de Atarés

204-010

Historic Preservation 82°19'45"W

145 290

580

870

Another major opportunity for the adaptation of the Malecón, in comparison to La Habana Vieja, is the preservation of living traditions. La Habana Vieja’s preservation efforts are focused on preserving the 1700s Spanish colonial culture, including architecture, and even re-enactments in full colonial garb.

Adaptation along the Malecón should focus on retaining its role in the traditions that continue to live and evolve there today.

0

23°7'55

82°22'30"W

82°21'35"W

82°20'40"W

82°19'45"W

Figure 34: UNESCO Property Map produced by Plan Maestro, Office of the City Historian of Havana, January 2015.

23°7'0"N

1160 Meters

In 1982, UNESCO added “Old Havana and its fortifications,” known as La Habana Vieja, to the list of World Heritage Sites, perhaps in response to past planning ideas that would have erased large portions of the city’s architectural history. The Malecón is not included in the UNESCO jurisdiction, although, like La Habana Vieja, it is managed by the city’s Office of the Historian.

82°18'50"W

23°7'55

23°7'0"N

Escala: 1:35 000

Escala: 1:35 000

0

La Habana Vieja Cas�llo de los Tres Reyes del Morro Fortaleza San Carlos de la Cabaña Hornabeque de San Diego or Fuerte Nº4 Fuerte Nº1 Torreón de San Lázaro Cas�llo de Santa Dorotea de Luna de La Chorrera Cas�llo de Cojímar Polvorín de San Antonio Cas�llo de Santo Domingo de Atarés Cas�llo del Príncipe

82°17'55"W

In La Habana Vieja, restoration projects have on occasion received funds directly from UNESCO in response to hurricane damage to specific buildings (“International Assistance Report on Cuba” 2018). While this source of funding is not available for

82°18'50"W

145 290

580

870

1160 Meters

82°17'55"W

The extraordinary social life of Havana’s Malecón

In spite of flooding risks, the Malecón is full of social activity.

Starting in the early morning there are fishermen, runners and morning commuters. Soon tourists begin to appear and the bustle of the day fully unfolds with buskers and street vendors taking their place along the seawall. In the afternoon, workers may pass by on a break. Students released from school find their way to the seawall with their sweethearts. And by evening a new wave of 14

people have arrived ready to meet up with friends and explore the nightlife scene. The Malecón is a magnet for everyone, including both locals and tourists, for people-watching and fresh air.2 The Malecón in Havana is a socially vibrant public space despite the absence of several indicators urban designers might typically expect to find. There are no trees lining the edge of the boulevard, the seawall is made of rough concrete materials, the crosswalks and access points for pedestrians are not clearly delineated, and a majority of the buildings facing the public space are vacant.

Improving these indicators could certainly optimize the public space, but the fact that there is a rich social life here without those improvements is extraordinary.

Bridging social life research and design

What is the nature of the magnetic draw towards the city’s edge?

The attraction that people have to the coast and the attraction between people watching other people together create a dynamic network of social patterns of interaction. Documenting the interactions that occur along the Malecón reveals these social patterns and allows us to see how the shape of the seawall accommodates these activities.

As we have learned from unsuccessful urban renewal projects in the past, details at the pedestrian scale are important for supporting public life. In the case of Havana in particular, residents and tourists alike are drawn to the Malecón despite its structural deterioration and minimal amenities. How can this observation inform the future design? Primarily by making clear that in the end, the most important features should remain intact: continuous pedestrian circulation, visible connections to the ocean and fresh air, views of the city, access to the water, places for people to sit and gather, places for people to watch others, good lighting at night, and shade from buildings during the day.

These basic criteria can be manipulated and shaped to form a new layer of coastal fortification that continues to support the social life of the wall.

2 This description is based on my fieldwork observations and conversations with people at the Malecón.

15

Figures 35-38: Detrás del Muro, Havana’s Biennale in 2015, used the Malecón as an open air art gallery (top left), daily social life of Havana’s Malecón (top right), a still from a popular reggaeton music video called “Hasta que se seque el Malecón” by Jacob Forever features drone footage of the social life of the seawall at dusk (bottom left), fishing is another popular pasttime on the seawall (bottom right).

16

Representation as empowerment

The representation of public spaces is not only an aesthetic question. It has important implications for political power.

Studying and showing social life is valuable partly because it foregrounds the experiences of people who actually use the space.

Including representations of social life as part of the research and pre-design phase of any project helps reduce reliance on “intuition” and biased assumptions related to how people use public space. Without these tools, intentionally or not, designers and planners can too easily assume that other people use (or ought to use) public spaces in the same way as they themselves do.

Documenting what may seem obvious leads to a stronger holistic understanding of the social dynamics of a place, and can help prevent displacement or disruption of existing ecosystems of human interaction. In addition, expanding the diversity of social life “observers” in future iterations of the project will ensure that multiple stakeholder perspectives are represented, thereby expanding the “agency of mapping” by including multiple authors in the representation process (Corner 2011).

stakeholders, and will hopefully reduce fears and risks of social displacement related to coastal adaptation projects by including multiple perspectives in the design process.

Setting goals

As the effects of climate change increase and add unprecedented stresses on the city’s infrastructure, the public spaces which provide people with an important connection to the water’s edge must be protected.

By documenting the social interactions that occur along the Malecón, this study aims to illuminate these social patterns and show how they can inform the future design of the city’s edge. By paying careful attention to social life, future designers can rely more on concrete data and less on intuition to guide and inform the adaptation of the seawall so it can continue to embrace a wide range of human activity.

Finally, there is an important responsibility for designers and planners to address fears associated with the potential negative side effects of climate change and redevelopment.

The representation of social life empowers a wider range of 17

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Space and Place

As a designer and city planner, my research focuses on the link between analysis and design, guided by my belief that human behavior is highly influenced by our surroundings. I believe an urban designer ought to explore a “thick description” of a place, like an anthropologist might, as part of the site analysis phase (Geertz 1993).

Proceeding from the idea that space is socially constructed as well as material and embodied, Setha Low’s work shows how ethnographic methods can help understand the cultural meanings of architectural spaces (Low 2017). As addressed by Kirsten Weir, psychologists are working with designers to explore how buildings can promote sustainable choices, improve public health, and even design more democratic public spaces (Weir 2013). Based on this understanding, the exploration of social and cultural identities represented along the Malecón can inform design of the adaptation in a way that is democratic and inclusive.

In conducting a public life survey along the Malecón and around these nodes of activity, I sought to document the factors that contribute to its pedestrian vitality. This process entailed measuring and counting expected behaviors like walking or sitting, as well as observing unexpected behaviors and learning directly from people about how the public space is used.

Throughout, I sought to remain open to unexpected results and to improved modes of documentation discovered in the field.

I would then develop design guidelines and recommendations to ensure that the Malecón continues to provide residents and visitors with an inclusive and lively public space even after it is adapted. Below I describe several theories that help form the foundation for this work.

Third Space/Place/Landscape

In addition to the social nature of the Malecón, it also offers visitors an opportunity to experience privacy in public. Many visitors come to the Malecón to be alone. The city’s edge along the seawall provides a cloak of anonymity within a public space.

For this same reason, many young lovers meet here to spend time away from home life. Many theories have been developed over time to understand this type of space that often exists in urban areas, between home and work or school, providing for both public and private needs, where conventional activities are free to occur (Arendt 1989) (Lefebvre 1991) (Soja 1996) (Oldenburg 1997). In landscape theory as well, there is an interest in the types of spontaneous ecologies that emerge between established ecological communities and urban interventions (Clément 2004).

18

Behaviorist vs. Interactionist Views

In Building the Unfinished, Lars Lerup makes the argument that human behavior is unpredictable because it is a result of more than just an individual’s response to a physical form (Lerup 1977). Behavior is also affected by an individual’s, or even a group’s, understanding and interpretation of past and new experiences. Recording observable behavior based on what can be counted and quantified will always be incomplete. And from Lerup’s perspective, designing architecture around these observable/quantifiable metrics, will lead to dull, mechanical designs. “Human action… is a complicated matrix with unknown combinations—the result of which is considerable unpredictability, a marvelous unfinishedness and openness…

The designer must learn how to live comfortably with the imprecisions of our understanding of human behavior.”

From my perspective however, these attempts to quantify human behavior in public space are still worthwhile investigations, and especially by pairing this quantitative work with qualitative interviews, a stronger understanding of the social life and behavior of a place can emerge and improve social inclusion in design.

Tourism and the draw of the relic

Havana is a popular destination for international tourists because of its history and warm climate. The layers of the city’s history

has been preserved in much of its architecture, in various states of preservation, with many advanced restoration efforts in the UNESCO-designated areas of the city like La Habana Vieja, and many areas left untouched. After the Obama administration began making travel to the island easier for US citizens, there was a rise in US interest and ‘educational’ tourism to the island, which has largely continued despite the Trump Administration’s renewed restrictions.

As Belmont Freeman pointed out in his article in Places Journal, a common part of a tourist’s interest in visiting the island is to see it “before it changes.” Freeman writes, “To be sure, there are treasures to be seen and in their unrestored condition the buildings of Havana are fascinating; but to suggest that change in Cuba, from our perspective and for our purposes, is something to be dreaded seems insensitive at best” (Freeman 2010). Change and adaptation are necessary, and balancing historic preservation with economic prosperity and urban design that supports public health is a challenge that must be met.

If tourism to the island is fueled by interest in seeing the city’s relics, untouched by global gentrification, then how does the tourism industry plan for the future? Many of the UNESCO areas that have been restored in La Habana Vieja are very beautiful, but there is a certain inauthenticity in its complete restoration to the colonial era. Parts of Habana Vieja have street performers 19

and actors in colonial era costumes that line the streets providing photo-ops with beautiful black women in white cotton dresses smoking over-sized cigars. Poorly reproduced artifacts are sold in many arts markets that are crowded with tourists. How can a historic city continue to operate in the present while honoring the past?

Since some tourists find this sort of Disney-fication of the past off-putting, what opportunities are there in other parts of the city, like Central Havana, to renovate buildings and allow the city to continue to function for its residents, providing a larger sense of “authenticity” sought by many visitors and locals alike? Again, this balance between adaptation and preservation is part of the design challenge, but also part of establishing a shared intention that values the parts of the city that were once outside of the historic city walls.

Figure 39: La Habana Vieja - A show and tell museum “...you’ll run into locals or rather ‘actors’ dressed in true authentic Cuban garb waiting for you to take their picture for just one peso (well worth the peso, some of my favorite pictures).”

- Eleni Manokas for wearetravelgirls.com

The Malecón in particular is part of this opportunity in Central Havana to renovate and preserve an area that has many cherished historic views of the city, but which must also adapt due to the threats of climate change. If adaptation in Central Havana can remain deferential to the past while supporting present uses, an authentic city can continue to serve both locals and visitors.

Figure 40: El Malecón - A living city “A woman prays to Yemayá, the sea goddess, on the Malecón, Havana’s main esplanade.”

- Joakim Eskildsen for TIME

20

RESEARCH METHODS

This thesis relies on several constructivist methodological approaches to study the social life of the Malecón, including firsthand observations and interviews with people about their time spent along the seawall. After interpreting these data, I develop a series of visitor personas, synthesizing what I learned about movement patterns and cultural connections to the place. The data, both quantitative and qualitative, are preserved as a database for future public life study comparisons.

This foundational work shapes a set of principles for the design adaptation, and ultimately guides my recommendation for a phased, adaptive design of Havana’s seawall that supports its social and cultural uses throughout the incremental implementation.

In order to study the social vibrancy of the Malecón, I conducted a series of primary data collection activities over a week in early January 2018 at two sites along the public seawall in Havana, Cuba. I consulted secondary sources via archival research while in Havana as well.

The data collection schedule consisted of 3-hour sessions arranged so that activities along the seawall could be observed over approximately twelve hours at each site. The following types of data collection took place during each 3-hour session:

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Morning 8-10am

Afternoon 1-4pm Thursday, January 4, 2018

Morning 9-12pm Sunday, January 7, 2018

Afternoon 1-4pm

Evening 6-9pm Monday, January 8, 2018

Morning 8-11am

Evening 4-6pm

Evening 7-9pm

Site 1 El Prado Site 2 La Rampa Site 1 El Prado Site 1 El Prado Site 1 El Prado Site 2 La Rampa Site 2 La Rampa Site 2 La Rampa Figure 41: Schedule of fieldwork observations

Survey locations

I selected two sites, one at each end of what is considered the traditional length of the Malecón, which also happens to be the area most vulnerable to wave overtopping. The first site is at the beginning of the Malecón near the intersection with the Paseo del Prado, close to La Habana Vieja. The second site is near the Hotel Nacional at the intersection with Avenida 23, also known as La Rampa because of its steep topography, and part of the mid-century modern part of the city. Both of these locations are near major pedestrian access points for the Malecón, but the first site is more of a destination area, while site two is more typical of conditions along the wall, transitory with more evenly distributed stationary activities.

21

Castillo del Morro

Survey Site #1

La Piragua

Survey Site #2

Parque Coppelia

Hotel Nacional

VEDADO

Paseo del Prado

Parque Antonio Maceo

La Rampa

Habana Libre

Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras CENTRO HABANA

El Capitolio

HABANA VIEJA

Universidad de la Habana

Alamed de Paul Figure 42: Plan of the Malecón showing the main survey sites used to conduct public life surveys.

22

Castillo del Príncipe

Survey Site 1

Site 1: El Malecรณn + El Paseo del Prado

MALECร N

Figure 43: Photos and section of the Malecรณn + Paseo del Prado site survey location.

23

Survey Site 2

Site 2: El Malecรณn + La Rampa

MALECร N

Figure 44: Photos and section of the Malecรณn + La Rampa site survey location.

24

Unobtrusive observation methods

Primary objective methods consisted of pedestrian counts of passersby, weather observations, and sketching of stationary activities along the seawall. Inspired toolsets recently made available by the Gehl Institute, the data was collected using pencil and paper, with subjective assessments of age and gender recorded according to the impressions of the observer (“Using the Public Life Tools” 2017). Everyone on site was observed, but no personal information was collected, and no engagement took place. This form of behavior reporting was made popular

by William Whyte’s Social Life of Small Urban Spaces study, in which his team measured the use of plazas in New York City.

One famous example from that study is the use of the “piano roll” graph as Whyte calls it, to document the sitting behavior patterns on the ledge of Seagram’s Plaza (Whyte 1980).

Today there are many new tools available for conducting this sort of study using secondary data sources. Aggregated data provided by the popular personal exercise-tracking app Strava offers some insight into popular pedestrian and bicycle routes travelled in cities around the world (“Strava Global Heatmap” 2017). While this data can offer insights into the travel patterns of those who use the Strava App in Cuba, Strava’s use is limited to a small subset of mostly athletic able-bodied tourists with GPS devices. Katja Schechtner studies the cultural limits of using big data to analyze urban mobility around the world, and

emphasizes that there is no universal tool or approach to studying a city’s transportation without also observing and adapting tools to on-the-ground cultural conditions (Schechtner 2016).

Acknowledging this, I use the Strava data only to ascertain which paths are well known to tourists, as a companion to the data collected on-the-ground.

Intercept survey + Interviews

Adults over 18 years of age who passed by on the seawall were invited to fill out a voluntary survey. Participants were asked about why they chose to visit the seawall, to indicate their mode of transportation, group size, age and gender, and country of origin. They were asked to indicate where their trip originated (by naming nearby cross streets), to draw their path of travel, and to identify their favorite areas on the seawall. No personal information was collected that could identify the participant by name. The survey took from 2-10 minutes to complete.

After the first day of surveying, during a reflection session recommended by Marcia McNally, it became obvious that the intercept surveys were not going to work as an independent activity for passersby to fill out on their own in this setting (McNally 2007). The data collection approach changed to a hybrid ‘intercept survey/interview’ in which the interviewer filled out the survey for the passersby based on their verbal responses and used the survey instrument to take notes on questions 25

from the interview protocol. This change in strategy on site was essential to making sure the data collected was able to reflect both quantitative and qualitative information without missing valuable information shared by the survey participants that otherwise would not have been captured.

In this hybrid approach, fewer total impressions were collected than planned, but much more detailed information was gathered.

Each survey took closer to 10-15 minutes to complete. Questions from the interview protocol that were asked during the intercept survey/interview included feedback on potential improvements to the Malecón, and past experiences during hurricanes.

Interviewees were asked not to give any sensitive personal information, and the interviews were not audio-recorded. No separate interviews were conducted. (Survey instrument and interview protocols are available in the appendix.)

Mapping as data collection

Kevin Lynch wrote about the legibility of a city and how people create mental maps composed of five main elements to orient themselves, including: paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks (Lynch 1964). In Lynch’s work, the maps are amorphous sketches drawn by interviewees, not geographically precise. Although the Malecón itself is a major reference point for orientation in Havana, its monotonous design means that visitors

rely on distinctive buildings and monuments to identify locations along the wall. For this reason, and because of the large extent of the city adjacent to the seawall, I decided to deviate from Lynch’s approach and use a geographically accurate base map, annotating it with data on paths travelled and important intersections crossed. Once the extent of the area travelled by the passersby was established, it was possible to take notes about key landmarks mentioned during the interview.

Inspired by Randy Hester’s work on documenting a community’s “sacred places,” the intercept survey/interview also attempted to document which areas of the Malecón interviewees most cherish (Hester 2006). Subjects found this difficult to answer, perhaps due to the geographically accurate base map and the lack of distinguishing features along the Malecón. But their difficulty answering may also be meaningful in its own way. Perhaps, more fundamentally, the Malecón simply does not decompose into distinct areas, instead drawing its power from its openness to the entirety of the city’s edge at once.

Time-lapse photography

Inspired by Annette Miae Kim’s sidewalk studies in Ho Chi Minh City, the survey sites were recorded via time-lapse photography throughout the data collection process as another primary source of data (Kim 2015). Using the camera as an unbiased

26

observer, I stitched the time-lapse photography footage together to present a full day of activity at each survey site. Because the footage collected for each site actually consists of different days, with different weather conditions due to passing cold fronts, the passersby may seem more frenetic than they would on a single typical day. But since all the footage was from one week in January, it is representative of the variety of activity on the seawall during a typical winter season.

Before arriving in Cuba, I conducted archival research in California to understand Cuba’s architectural history. Many of the resources I consulted have a US perspective on the SpanishAmerican War, including the documents about the construction of the Malecón, which come directly from US Army Corps of Engineers Civil Reports on Cuba (Barden 1901). I gathered other historical map sources via the Earth Sciences and Map Library at UC Berkeley, including nautical maps and bathymetric data.

Current base map data are limited to the open source GIS data made available by OpenStreetMaps, which was essential for all of the geospatial analysis in this study.

mainly caused by waves overtopping the seawall. In the present situation the seawall is 4.3 m above MSL and during design conditions 274 litres of water will be discharged per metre over the seawall on time average. Other contributing mechanisms are rainfall and wave penetration into the drainage system, which are in the order of 10 l/s/m. Because the overtopping is the most important cause the main objective of the report is to find feasible alternatives to drastically decrease the overtopping. A solution has to be integrated with the drainage systems to prevent build up of the water mass in the hinterland. First research was done on the causes. With the findings a list of conditions and a list of demands for the solution was formed. Directly after, all sorts of solutions were considered and weighed in a Multi Criteria Analysis, resulting in a berm in front of the seawall and a submerged detached breakwater as the best alternatives. These have been investigated further. Both the berm and breakwater are considered feasible. The berm must be made of rubble with a nominal diameter for the armour layer of 1.0 m. At the crest MSL + 2 m and architectural studies (Canazzi, Antoine and EMU TU Delft 2016) published about the Malecón were a helpful reference and accessible from the US.

Most recent research conducted in Cuba has been undertaken in partnership with universities in Europe, like Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). Hydrologic wave modeling (Baart, S.A. et al. 2006) one of Cuba’s most important. The inundations are

Once in Cuba, the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana was very generous in providing a copy of a recent report on the Malecón. This report offered information about the condition of the buildings facing the seawall, past flooding, and proposed

Sources of Archival Research

27

areas for new development (Padrón Lottí et al. 2014). There, I was also connected with a doctoral student at CUJAE, who provided me with studies done by the architecture department on potential redevelopment options for the Malecón. Finally, the Cuban government has many civic reports available online including a thorough report on climate change highlighting the particular challenges facing the Malecón (Gutiérrez 2012).

Potential limitations of the study

The data collected are not representative of the entire length of the seawall, or even the variety of interactions that may change throughout the year, the information can spark a conversation around potential design alternatives. The people who use the public spaces along the seawall can begin to imagine a new future and make decisions about its realization.

Critics of urban data science point out that human behavior is not predictable or even completely observable (Lerup 1977).

While this does make the design of public space a challenge, it also highlights the importance of building an adaptive design that offers flexibility of use and the potential for future modification.

So while the data collected is limited, it nevertheless reveals a portion of the story of the Malecón. I will also recommend additional data collection efforts to be undertaken in the future and ways to identify and engage with potential future stakeholders.

28

Site 1: Malecรณn + Paseo del Prado

152

150 People per Hour

Site 2: Malecรณn + La Rampa

100

Total = 1,238

52

50

Morning Thursday

150 42

Afternoon Sunday

Evening Sunday

People per Hour

100

Total = 549 30

30

Morning Monday

Afternoon Wednesday

50

SOCIAL LIFE SURVEY RESULTS

Passersby Observations

After twelve hours of field work at each observation site, I was able to count a total of 1787 passersby. Overall, there were more than twice as many visitors at the first site near Paseo del Prado compared to the second site near La Rampa. After calculating the relative rates of passersby per hour, the afternoon was the most popular time to visit by a wide margin, with a rate of about 152 people/hour.

Survey Site 2 Survey Site 2

48

Evening Monday Survey Site 1 Survey Site 1

Figures 45-47: Timelapse stills and summaries of the rates of passersby per hour on the Malecรณn.

29

Age and Gender Observations

Overall, the passersby on the Malecón were majority male (58%), and almost half were perceived to be working-age adults from0-14 3164 years of age.

15-19

Comparing the composition of passersby to those surveyed, 20-30 it appears that both men and women in the 20-30 age group were oversampled. This is likely due to the fact that this age 31-64 group is proximate to the interviewer’s age. To correct for this 65+ oversampling, it might be useful to reference a graph like the below right in real-time to see if such over-sampling is occurring.

Overall, I find it somewhat surprising that the gender balance is was close to equal. As has been observed in past research, gender balance in public space is a good proxy for feelings of safety (Loukaitou-Sideris 2014) transit environments have received less attention. This study examines women’s safety in transit environments through a comprehensive review of the literature and in-depth interviews with representatives of 16 national women’s interest groups in the United States. It finds that women have distinct safety/security needs, are often fearful of certain transit environments and frequently adjust their behaviour and travel patterns to avoid them.

This is particularly true for certain groups of women who feel more vulnerable to victimization and harassment than others.

Age and Age Gender andof Gender Passersby of Passersby (n=1787) (n=1787) 0-14

1%

2%

1%

2%

15-19

4%

3%

4%

3%

20-30

15%

18% 15%

18%

31-64

19%

30% 19%

30%

65+

3%

5%

3%

Female

Female

Ma le

Ma le

58%

of all passersby on the Malecón were male.

5%

Representation of those Surveyed compared to Passersby by Gender and Age Female Ma le

7%

6%

1% -8%

-2%

-5%

20-30

31-64

65+

Figures 48, 49: Data summaries of passersby and people surveyed. Compared to the distribution of ages of passersby, both men and women in the 20-30 age group were oversampled in the survey.

30

The women interviewed outlined design, policing, security technology and education/outreach strategies that would make women riders feel safer in transit settings (Loukaitou-Sideris 2014) (Pain 1997). Traditional approaches to mapping fear of crime are limited to describing or explaining the impact of sexual and physical violence as a reflection of gender inequality. Using empirical evidence from recent research, a social geography of women’s fear is developed. Four important areas of geographical analysis are highlighted: the imposition of constraints on the use of urban space, the distinction between public and private space in perceptions of danger, the social construction of space into ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’ places, and the social control of women’s spaces. Within this framework, it is shown how women’s experiences of social class, age, disability and motherhood can determine their experience of, and reactions to fear of, violent crime (Pain 1997). This data confirms my impression that the Malecón in its current form is a comfortable-feeling place.

Surveyed Paths Traveled Results

After twelve hours of field work at each observation site, I was able to interview a total of 62 people. An even number of locals and tourists were interviewed at each site. When mapped by residency, the routes reported by those surveyed reveal differing patterns of movement in the western Vedado when compared to La Habana Vieja in the east. Whereas tourists walked from many different locations (probably residences) in Vedado, locals mostly approached the Malecón via La Rampa. In La Habana Vieja, both tourists and locals approached the Malecón from Paseo del Prado as well as dispersed locations in the neighborhood.

31

Intercept Survey Results 62 total intercept survey/interviews conducted in English or Spanish Legend Cuban Local Cuban Tourist

Survey Site 1

Survey Site 2

Foreign Tourist

Site 1: Malecรณn + Paseo del Prado 15 No. of Surveys

Site 2: Malecรณn + La Rampa 16

13

10

15 Total = 30

5

1 Cuban Local

Cuban Tourist

Foreign Tourist

No. of Surveys

15

14

10

Total = 32 3

5 Cuban Local

Cuban Tourist

Foreign Tourist

Figures 50, 51: Data summaries of paths traveled by those surveyed.

32

Interview Results

Conducting intercept interviews without recording devices, often in two languages, and in a windy location was a challenge, but in general most of the subjects approached agreed to participate.

People were there for a variety of reasons: to celebrate birthdays, to kick off their trips, to relax and reflect, to pray, or to meet friends or family.

When asked about climate change on the Malecón, locals struggled to imagine a different future for the existing seawall.

There was a sense that weather is out of our control, and that big infrastructure changes are difficult for the government to complete.

Interview Comments “It’s my first day here!”

“No wall is going to stop a hurricane.”

“Look, I fell in love on the Malecón, but it’s failing structurally, what can we do about it?”

“I come here to relax after school, to watch the waves and people passing by.”

“In the morning, I’ll walk down here to talk to Yemayá before I start the day.”

“It’s my birthday! We’re here to take photos on the Malecón.”

“I love Central Havana, it’s the real gritty city that I want to expore, not like the polished parts of La Habana Vieja.”

“There are bigger problems in Cuba than climate change.”

“It’s my last day here and I’ve come to say goodbye to the Malecón. I love Cuba.”

Figure 52: Summary of interview comments.

33

Observed Daily Activities

As part of the Yoruba religion, the connection to the ocean is very important for praying to and worshipping the Yemayá deity. Seven out of thirty-one Cubans interviewed mentioned that they were at the Malecón to visit her, or to pray to her. The very beginning of the Malecón near the Paseo del Prado has an opening in the wall that allows people to walk down to the water, and several people came to this location to leave flowers and fruits to Yemayá as a form of tribute. Accessing the water is dangerous during strong wave action, and is often prohibited because of safety reasons, but during the observation times people routinely disregarded the policy for purposes of prayer.

Visiting Yemayá

Exercise

Internet access in Cuba is limited and expensive. Public parks and hotels that provide Wi-Fi offer the only personal access to the internet in the entire country. Wi-Fi locations generate agglomerations of people, including those locations along the Malecón.

Overall, the Malecón is used as a large linear park for exercise and seating along the water. The pedestrian connectivity and seating opportunities are very important to shaping the social life of the Malecón.

WIFI Hotspots are only available in hotels and parks in Cuba.

Figures 53-55: Images of the daily activities observed along the Malecón.

34

Survey Site 2 Observed Daily Activities

Survey Site 1

Survey Site 2 MALECร N

WIFI Availability

Survey Site 2

Yemayรก offerings Seating Patterns

Figure 56: Map of the daily activities observed along the Malecรณn.

Survey Site 2

Survey Site 1

35

INTERPRETED PERSONAS

SOCIAL LIFE PERFORMANCE MATRIX

Based on the site observations and interviews, I developed my own interpretation of the typical personas that have distinct motivations for using the Malecón as a public space, and that also have distinct spatial needs to be addressed during and after any climate adaptation efforts undertaken.

Applying lessons learned from my social life observations, interpretations, and site analyses, I devised a “Social Life Performance Matrix” that can be used to shape future design adaptation strategies and evaluate their impact on social life.

It is likely that the list is incomplete. Part of the challenge of this work is to make sure that the process of data collection is thorough, open, and continuous without halting the design process. One recommendation, discussed further in the Next Steps section, is to exhibit observations on site and allow for live feedback and continuous data collection.

While some of the general matrix categories derive from universal urban design principles, the specifics address sitespecific details of architecture, climate, and social uses of the place.

Overall, the goal of the Matrix is to highlight and reveal the valued functions, distinctive features, and shortcomings of the existing socially vibrant seawall, based on feedback from the interviews and personal observations. The Matrix can then inform a site analysis of schematic and design phases of the adaptation project. The goal is to use this research as a predesign tool grounded in social reality, rather than in unspoken interpretations of the space.

36

Interpreted Personas

1

Yemayá visitor Comes to the malecón to pray, often alone, and sometimes comes to leave an offering in the water.

2

• Needs safe access to the water

Cuban tourist Comes to the malecón to celebrate birthdays and life events. Often arrives at the train station or bus station near the capitolio and walks down the Paseo del Prado to the water

3

City worker Comes to the malecón to relax after work or during breaks.

• Needs a place to sit that is dry, cool and restful.

5

Foreign sightseer Comes to the malecón to sightsee, take photos, and engage with locals.

• Needs safe access crossing the street

Comes to the malecón to engage with tourists and locals, often plays classic Cuban songs and asks for money.

• Needs tourists and locals to create a musical audience.

• Needs safe access crossing the street

4

Busker

6

Athlete Comes to the malecón to exercise, both locals and foreigners.

• Needs an clear uninterupted path of travel to move quickly through crowds of people.

Figure 57: Based on my interpretations of the fieldwork observations and interviews on the Malecón, I developed a set of personas that describe some of the visitors along the seawall, and identify some of their design needs.

37

Social Life Performance Matrix

1. Visual Connectivity

2. Pedestrian Continuity

3. Access

+ Circulation

4. Events Programming

• Provides views toward the water.

• Provides views of the city’s skyline.

• Maintains views of the entire skyline or only of key buildings.

• Maintains a sense of openness by maintaining a view across the length of the linear park to ensure safety.

• Provides photo-op locations.

• Provides a continuous walkway separated from cars.

• Provides safe traffic crossings.

• Provides universally accessible options to reach the water’s edge.

• Provides alternative vehicular patterns to ensure emergency access to the park, but minimizes vehicular access to the pedestrian area.

• Maximizes the number of connection to other parts of the city.

• Identifies drop off areas for taxis as well as colectivo stops.

Spontaneous: • Supports busking and local activities like fishing, swimming, mobile vendors, wifi, music, dancing (not only programming for tourists).

5. Religious

Access to Water

6. Seating Quality

7.

8. Climate Comfort

• Provides safe access for individuals and groups to touch the water, especially for Yemayá visitors.

• Provides an area for food offerings and other events that can be washed away by the ocean waves.

• Provides locations to stand or sit to pray with a view of the crashing waves.

• Provides plenty of seating – the wall today is known as “the longest coach in Havana.”

• Accommodates large groups and individuals.

• Provides additional locations to sit that are not often subject to wave overtopping.

• Designs are robust, and strong enough to withstand daily high winds and wave action.

• Maintains the Malecón’s iconic lighting design to support nightlife.

• Incorporates low-level, warm lights which are preferred to the modern highway lighting structures with bright white lights.

Lighting Quality

Planned: • Supports parades and other demonstrations.

• Art exhibitions, like Bienal de La Habana, celebrate local artists.

• Music and performances at La Piragua and other parks.

• Maintains an open to design to encourage the circulation of fresh air to improve air quality in the city.

• Provides relief from the car exhaust from adjacent parts of the city, partially manages by removing the vehicular arterial road adjacency.

• Preserves fresh air access for other important corridors like La Rampa, and El Prado.

• Addresses solar shade, either through wind-protected areas for trees, or relying on architectural structures.

• Provide trash cans and maintenance.

Figure 58: Based on my interpretations of the fieldwork observations and interviews on the Malecón, I developed a Social Life Performance Matrix that can be used to evaluate design options.

38

DESIGN OPTIONS AND SOCIAL LIFE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

The studies that follow demonstrate how social life considerations can shape decisions made in the design process.

The existing conditions along the Malecón and the architectural retreat option are each evaluated across the eight social life performance parameters. While the existing condition along the wall has both strengths and weaknesses, the architectural retreat option has an overall lower score, including in the categories related to the preservation of historical views, the amenability to events programming, and relatedly, climate comfort due to increased exposure to sun and wind.

The next step was to develop a design alternative that provides protection from wave-overtopping and prevents flooding, while also keeping the social life activity as a priority. In option 3, I developed an incremental approach that allows the Malecón and the buildings that face the boulevard to adapt slowly over time.

First, the existing buildings, and any buildings that are redeveloped, would need to adapt so that all ground floor functions are moved up to the next level. In many cases along the Malecón, this type of adaptation has already begun in an effort to prevent the repeated loss of property caused by flooding events after major storms and hurricanes. This former-ground-floor condition has precedents in places like Sacramento, California,

where the city streets were rebuilt 10 feet higher to prevent seasonal flooding near the river.

Once many of the buildings have been adapted and redeveloped by the owners and residents, a new pedestrian-oriented promenade can be built up to meet the new ground floor of the buildings. This new elevation would run parallel to the existing seawall, with connections like stairs and ramps connecting the two levels of the promenade. The existing Malecón level and the new level together comprise a double-terraced linear park that preserves the historic edge of the city, allows for social life to continue throughout the construction of the new wall, and builds a new foundational layer that protects the future connectivity along the edge of the city. The primary vehicular traffic would be redirected to an interior boulevard that does not experience flooding during major storm events.

Over time, as the original Malecón degrades and sea levels rise, the original level will experience longer periods of inundation.

Some segments of the old seawall should be dismantled to allow for drainage over time. The old seawall will function more like a breakwater, and could be reconfigured to become a substrate for coralline algaes which could in turn support the bio-diverse rock-pool habitats along the coast. The locations for accessing the water, especially for those praying to Yemayá, will also change over time as sea level rise and wave action changes the landscape.

39

1. Existing conditions on the Malecรณn

~ 4m (13 ft)

~ 5m (16 ft)

Survey Site #1

~ 0.8m (2.6 ft)

~ 3m (10 ft) ~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 18m (60 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 1m (3 ft)

~ 30m (100 ft)

Survey Site 1

Legend Typical flooding extent during major storms Paths of travel collected from surveyed passersby Surveyed sites

Figure 59: Section perspective of the existing conditions along the Malecรณn.

40

2. Retreat studies explored by CUJAE

Demolished buildings converted to open green space

Survey Site #1

~ 0.8m (2.6 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 18m (60 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 1m (3 ft)

~ 30m (100 ft)

Survey Site 1

Legend Typical flooding extent during major storms Paths of travel collected from surveyed passersby Surveyed site Demolished buildings in the RETREAT option Figure 60: Section perspective of the retreat alternative proposed by CUJAE which recommends demolishing the entire row of blocks facing the Malecรณn.

41

3. New Wall, Incrementally Phased 2

1. Incrementally raise the ground floor of buildings facing the Malec贸n.

2. Allow redevelopment of the buildings in order to add more floors.

3. Build an elevated promenade that is similar to the malec贸n in dimension, with many connections between levels. Emergency vehicle access ensured.

4. Leave the existing malec贸n as an accessible, semi-floodable open space, stop patch and repair of the wall, allow the wall to erode and open segments of the wall to allow for drainage.

5. Allow the existing Malec贸n to become a substrate for a future coraline reef habitat to act as a natural breakwater.

3 4 ~ 4m (13 ft)

~ 5m (16 ft) ~ 3.7m (12 ft)

Survey Site #1

~ 0.8m (2.6 ft)

~ 3m (10 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft) ~ 6m (20 ft)

1

~ 18m (60 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 1m (3 ft)

~ 30m (100 ft)

5

Survey Site 1

Legend Typical flooding extent during major storms Paths of travel collected from surveyed passersby Surveyed site New wall Figure 61: Section perspective of the phased, incremental design alternative proposed by this study and based on the Social Life Performance Matrix recommendations.

42

Social Life Performance Matrix Evaluations

1. Visual Connectivity

1. Existing ~ 4m (13 ft)

~ 5m (16 ft)

~ 0.8m (2.6 ft)

~ 3m (10 ft) ~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 18m (60 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 1m (3 ft)

~ 30m (100 ft)

2. Retreat

~ 0.8m (2.6 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 18m (60 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 1m (3 ft)

~ 30m (100 ft)

3. New Wall + Phasing ~ 4m (13 ft)

~ 5m (16 ft) ~ 3.7m (12 ft) ~ 0.8m (2.6 ft)

~ 3m (10 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft) ~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 18m (60 ft) ~ 30m (100 ft)

~ 6m (20 ft)

~ 1m (3 ft)

2. Pedestrian Continuity

3. Vehicular Circulation

5. Religious 4. Events Programming Access to Water

6. Seating

7. Lighting

8. Climate Comfort

H

M

M

M

M

M

H

M

High Full view of skyline and iconic buildings

Medium Linear path is continuous but crossing the street is diffcult

Medium Limited access during storms

Medium Spontaneous activity is restrained because of dangerous waves

Medium Access possible in practice, but technically illegal

Medium Most of the seawall is sittable when it’s dry

High Great night lighting in most areas

Medium Cooling wind and shade from buildings is good, need trash service

L

M

M

L

M

M

M

L

Medium Low Continuous Changes the paths, but the skyline of the exposed area Malecón, fewer seems harder to eyes on the walk along street

M

H

Low Medium Medium Medium Low Medium Limited access Possible to plan Access possible Seawall seating Many more lights No adjacent buildings to would have to remains, during storms large events, but in practice, but protect from be added to the Additional much less foot technically illegal high winds and large park seating may not traffic expected provide shade withstand storms

M

H

H

High High Medium High Medium Safe access Limited access Spotaneous and Linear path is Changes to the year round, but planned events to water would continuous skyline, with new be designed can happen and no vehicles other alternatives additions interrupt access. during storms year-round with a and adapted throughout lot of foot traffic flooding stages

H

H

H

High Many more seating options that remain dry more often

High Keep same fixtures with warm lighting at new elevation

High Fresh air because no vehicle exhaus.

Cooling wind, shade, more manageable trash service

Figure 62: The Social Life Performance evaluations comparing the exisiting configuration of the Malecón, to the retreat option, and to the new wall design adaptation.

43

Figure 63: The Malecón in 30 years. Looking down from the upper level of the Malecón, a man spots his date talking with some of the Yoruba women that are leaving offerings to Yémaya. The tide is low, but the waves still lap over the edge of the old seawall from time to time. He walks down the ramp to meet them.

44

CONCLUSION

Significance for other cities

The Malecón will experience change due to both environmental degradation, and new economic policies in the country. While it’s difficult for many Cuban scholars to imagine the success of a large adaptation effort after such a long period of stagnation, my research leads me to believe that change is imminent. We must expand our understanding of social life functions on the Malecón and use that understanding to shape future adaptation efforts.

While the recommendations developed for the future adaptation of the Malecón Habanero are specific and unique to its local context, the tools used to build the recommendations are applicable to other social life research studies.

The Malecón is not just a physical structure. After spending time there, you discover that there are intricate social structures and meanings embedded in the nuances of local context that live along the wall. These are worth preserving, and a tool like the Social Life Performance Matrix can ensure that they are considered and evaluated in future adaptation plans.

Coastal cities around the world are on the verge of making important climate change adaptation decisions for their regions.

The Social Life Performance Matrix tools can reveal the local social life of a place, and this understanding can guide future design.

By documenting the social vibrancy that exists along the wall today, recommendations can then be made to ensure that the Malecón continues to provide residents and visitors with a lively public space even after it is redeveloped.

45

Figure 64: The Malecรณn in 30 years - Section Perspective

46

NEXT STEPS IN HAVANA: THE EXHIBIT

The next step in evaluating and continuing to refine the design of the Malecón’s coastal adaption involves an expanded social life observation period in other seasons and during major events.

Expanding the data to include interviews and interviewers from different backgrounds will allow varying perspectives to be recorded.

Finally, the most important component is the dissemination of the research itself. An exhibition displayed in some of the available ground floor spaces along the Malecón would be an effective tool to share the information gathered with the public and to gather feedback on how well the data has been interpreted.

Celebrating and recording the social life of the seawall allows a conversation to develop around the changes that may be necessary in the future to protect the coast from dangerous flooding events. Adaptation need not displace the social life that makes the Malecón such a treasure for the city.

47

REFERENCES

Arendt, Hannah. 1989. The Human Condition. Charles R. Walgreen Foundation Lectures. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Baart, S.A., Van Kruchten, Y.J.G., McCall, R.T., Van Nieuwkoop, J.C.C., and TU Delft. 2006. “Coastal Defence for Centro Habana: Integral Coastal Defence for Section 4 of the Malecón and Hurricane Generated Hydraulic Boundary Conditions.” TU Delft, Section Hydraulic Engineering. http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:3a704a55-139d-4d49-8a5e1e9cbd051947.

Barden, W. J., ed. 1901. Civil Report on Cuba of the Military Governor Leonard Wood, 1899-1902. Vol. 14. Havana, Cuba: United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Canazzi, Antoine, and EMU TU Delft. 2016. “Rethinking Havana: Constructing Sustainable Urban Landscapes.” Spring 2016. https://issuu.com/antoinecanazzi/docs/booklet__ modified_.

Clément, Gilles. 2004. Manifeste pour le Tiers paysage. Montreuil: Sujet.

Corner, James. 2011. The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention. https://doi. org/10.1002/9780470979587.ch12.

Freeman, Belmont. 2010. “Havana: Nostalgia Is a Dangerous Business.” Places Journal, May. https://doi. org/10.22269/100513.

Garcia, Guadalupe. 2015. Beyond the Walled City: Colonial Exclusion in Havana. Univ of California Press.

Geertz, Clifford. 1993. The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. Fontana Press.

Gómez Díaz, Francisco. 2007. “De Forestier a Sert ciudad y arquitectura en La Habana de 1925 a 1960.” https://idus. us.es/xmlui/handle/11441/15462.

Gutiérrez, Dr Eduardo Planos. 2012. “Impacto Del Cambio Climático y Medidas de Adaptación En Cuba.” INSMET. http://www.redciencia.cu/geobiblio/paper/2012_Planos_ Impacto%20y%20Adaptacion,%20Libro.pdf.

Hester, Randolph T., Jr. 2006. Design for Ecological Democracy.

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c2006.

Humboldt, Alexander von, Vera M. Kutzinski, and Ottmar Ette.

2011. Political Essay on the Island of Cuba. Alexander von Humboldt in English. Chicago ; London: University of Chicago Press.

“International Assistance Report on Cuba.” 2018. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 2018. https://whc.unesco.org/en/ intassistance/?action=request&id_states=cu.

Kim, Annette Miae. 2015. Sidewalk City: Remapping Public Space in Ho Chi Minh City. Chicago ; London: The University of Chicago Press.

Lefebvre, Henri. 1991. The Production of Space. Oxford, OX, UK ; Cambridge, Mass., USA : Blackwell, 1991.

Lerup, Lars. 1977. Building the Unfinished: Architecture and 48

Human Action. Sage Library of Social Research ; v. 53.

Beverly Hills, Calif: Sage Publications.

Loukaitou-Sideris, Anastasia. 2014. “Fear and Safety in Transit Environments from the Women’s Perspective.” Security Journal 27 (2): 242–56. https://doi.org/10.1057/sj.2014.9.

Low, Setha M. 2017. Spatializing Culture : The Ethnography of Space and Place. London ; New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Lynch, Kevin. 1964. The Image of the City. Publication of the Joint Center for Urban Studies 11. Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press.

McNally, Marcia. 2007. “Investigating The Neighborhood Landscape: A Field Guide For Knowing and Planning for Change In Your Neighborhood.”

Oldenburg, Ray. 1997. The Great Good Place : Cafés, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You through the Day. New York : Marlowe & Co., c1997.

Padrón Lottí, María Teresa, Fernando Pérez, Leonardo Padura, and Carlos Venegas. 2014. El Malecón Tradicional: Plan Especial de Rehabilitación Integral Regulaciones Urbanísticas, Centro Habana. La Habana, Cuba: Plan Maestro para la Revitalización Integral de La Habana Vieja, Oficina de Historiador de la Ciudad de La Habana.

Pain, Rachel H. 1997. “Social Geographies of Women’s Fear of Crime.” Transactions of the Institute of British

Geographers 22 (June): 231–44.

Schechtner, Katja. 2016. “Culture Eats Transport Technology for Breakfast.” Text. Asian Development Blog. September 14, 2016. https://blogs.adb.org/blog/culture-eats-transporttechnology-breakfast.

Soja, Edward W. 1996. Thirdspace : Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places. Cambridge, Mass. : Blackwell, 1996.

“Strava Global Heatmap.” 2017. Strava. 2017. https://www.strava. com/heatmap.

“Using the Public Life Tools.” 2017. Gehl Institute. 2017. https:// gehlinstitute.org/using-public-life-tools-complete-guide/.

Weir, Kirsten. 2013. “Design in Mind: Psychologists Can Help to Design Smart, Sustainable Spaces for the 21st Century.”

Monitor on Psychology 44 (10): 50.

Whyte, William H. 1980. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.

New York: Project for Public Spaces.

49

APPENDIX

I.

Timelapse videos

Malecรณn y Paseo del Prado: https://vimeo.com/267726091

Malecรณn y La Rampa https://vimeo.com/267725861 II. Boards

Urban history timeline of Havana

III.

Data collection tools

Surveys, counts, interview protocols

IV.

Additional site analyses

Observed and reported social life activity at each site

50

II. Boards

1750

1902

1900

1850

1898

1959 Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro’s term begins

1924

Democratic elections in Cuba

1933

Spanish-American War: US supports Cuba’s revolt against Spain

1961

Fulgencio Batista’s coup backed by the US

SPAIN

Raul Castro’s term begins

Fall of USSR

US begins Cuban Embargo

HAVANA’S MORPHOLOGY

INFLUENCIAL ALLIES/COLONISTS

2016

2008

1991

USA

USSR

1519

VENEZUELA

1971

Havana founded by Spain

1762 7 years war: British take Havana and trade it back to Spain for Florida

1740 Havana becomes Spain’s largest shipyard

Humboldt’s Political Essay on Cuba published

Abolution of slavery in US

1847 1st wave of Chinese immigration to Cuba

1810 Mexico Independent

1886 Abolution of slavery in Cuba

1914-18

1939-45

WWI

WWII

“The Special Period” in Cuba of great economic depression

1951-57

1850

2016 Obama visits Cuba

1997

1929

Buena Vista Social Club album released

Economic Depression

1776 US Independent

Death of Fidel Castro

1990s

“I Love Lucy” airs on CBS 1895 Death of José Martí

POPULATION IN CUBA

2016

Pruitt-Igoe demolished in US

1865

1825

1900

1950

2016

2017 Trump reinstates business restrictions

Chanel show on Paseo del Prado

2000

2018

HURRICANES

CUBAN HISTORY

“Here, as in our European cities, the network of poorly laid out streets can only slowly be corrected... When yellow fever reigns in Havana, people retire where the air is purer... the paseo extra muros has deliciously fresh air; after sunset, it bustles with carriages.”

1984

1982

-Alexander von Humboldt

1901-1921

Second and final section of the Malecon is constructed

First section of the Malecon is constructed

“Near the northern outlet [of the gulf stream], where the trade routes of many peoples cross, lies the beautiful port of Havana, fortified both by nature and by many works of manmade artistry.”

Ongoing

1863

1837 Railroad, Gran Teatro built in Havana

Flood damage surveys along the malecon and climate change planning efforts 1930 Hotel Nacional built 2014 1958

late 1960s

Havana Hilton built (renamed Havana Libre after the revolution)

Plaza de la Cathedral

1999 Restoration of the Cubanacan Art Schools begins

Havana city walls removed to connect the outlying towns

-Alexander von Humboldt

1749

Havana Biennial founded

Central Havana named an UNESCO World Heritage site

1948-1952

“a ridge of cavernous rocks covered with vibrant green seaweed and living coral, there are a great many madrepores and other lithophyte corals…”

Block housing developed in new towns on the outskirts of Havana

Cuban Architect Vilma Bartolomé designs La Abadía coffeeshop on the malecon 2017 Hurricane Irma tears through the Carribean, flooding Havana along the way.

1925

-Alexander von Humboldt

Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier, French landscape architect, revamps the historic promenade, Paseo del Prado.

He also develops “Haussmanian” plans for Havana (not built).

2017 1900

1959

US Army Corps of Engineers survey Havana and develop a series of public works, including the “Gulf and Harbor Avenues and Sea Walls” known today as the malecon

BAROQUE ERA

NEOCLASSICAL ERA

Josep Lluis Sert develops modernist plans for Havana to renew the historic city, and extend development into the sea (not built).

ECLECTIC ERA

ART DECO ERA

MODERNIST ERA

1961-65 Cubanacan Art Schools were built on a former country club from locally-made tiles. Constructed was interrupted in 1965.

PRE-FAB ERA

Cuban Architect José Antonio Choy designs new buildings to face the malecon (under construction)

POST-MODERNIST ERA

This timeline of Cuban history shows the evolution of architecture and planning in Havana within the context of the political and economic changes in Cuba, and the increasing impact of climate change worldwide. Timeline produced by the author.

51

III.

Data collection tools

Side one of the Intercept Survey tool.

52

Side two of the Intercept Survey tool.

53

Example of an age and gender counting tool developed based on the Gehl Institute Public Life Survey tools.

54

Interview Protocol

Interview for a passerby on the seawall who has just completed an intercept survey.

My name is Cristina Bejarano, and as I mentioned, I am a student of City Planning and Landscape Architecture at UC Berkeley.

I’m conducting research on social interactions along the seawall here in Havana. Your answers are important to us because of your knowledge of your neighborhood and this area. This interview will take about 25 minutes.

Before we start, I wanted to ask if it’s okay with you if I record this interview for my notes. I won’t record your name or any personal information. In order to protect your privacy, please do not reveal any information that may damage your reputation. We will not discuss issues that are illegal or secret. And just so you know, there are no right or wrong answers to the questions, and you can stop the conversation or skip a question at any time.

Questions 1. Do you spend a lot of time here at the seawall?

2. When do you come here most often?

3. Where do you go?

4. What do you do?

5. Do you visit the seawall with other people or meet people here?

6. Do you like coming here? Why? 7. What kinds of activities happen here?

8. Has that changed over time?

9. Do you think anything about the design of this place should change or needs to change?

10. Have you ever been affected by the flooding here?

11. If this seawall gets redesigned, what do you hope it looks like?

Thank you very much for your time.

Outline of interview questions prepared in advance. The interviews were not recorded.

55

IV.

Additional site analyses

Site 1: El Prado

Who passed by at El Prado?

El Prado Passersby per hour by gender and time of day Female Mo rn ing 7am-12pm

42

Afternoon 12-5pm

120

Evening 5pm-10pm

48

Ma le

55

57%

164

of all passersby on El Prado were male.

56

More people visit Supports my hunch that La Rampa El Prado in the is more of a locals’ destination, afternoon than any while El Prado serves tourists. other time.

Who was surveyed at El Prado?

Surveys at El Prado by gender and residence (n=30)

0

10

20m

Female Cuban Local

2

11

Cuban Tourist

0

1

Foreign Tourist

10

6

Ma le

56

Site 2: La Rampa

Who passed by at La Rampa?

La Rampa Passersby per hour by gender and time of day Female Mo rn ing 7am-12pm

22

30

Afternoon 12-5pm

20

42

Evening 5pm-10pm

38

58

Ma le

61%

of all passersby on La Rampa were male.

The rate of passersby here is much lower.

More people visit La Rampa in the evening.

Who was surveyed at La Rampa?

Surveys at La Rampa by gender and residence (n=32)

0

Female

Cuban Local

6

8

Cuban Tourist

2

1

Foreign Tourist

6

9

10

20m

Ma le

57