SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN URBAN DESIGN 951.715A
Barriers to urban Integration: Social-Spatial Segregation by physical boundaries. A Case Study in Tegucigalpa, Honduras Jessica Margarita Barahona Aragon Landscape Architecture Master Candidate 2016-23957
Abstract Tegucigalpa- Comayagüela City has exhibit patterns of social segregation similar to other cities in Latin American. Higher groups on the social scale were once concentrated in the downtown area while poor groups were settled on the periphery under agglomerations. Scrutinizing at the development of these socalled “twin cities” it is evident that both have been strongly affected by trends of privatization and exclusion from the beginning of their urban history. Such characteristics have become more notorious through certain physical boundaries. The Choluteca River has played an important role in this socialspatial segregation. The river helped create a dichotomy within the city between two different lineages: the Spanish-richer class and the native-poorer class; perception that still persists and reflects in the urban layout. On this paper, the dissociation characteristics are explored and identified through an analysis of physical conditions and urban form sustained by literature review. The aim of the following paper is to identify what type of city model characterizes the urban growth of the “twin cities”. Likewise to trace and identify dissociation characteristics embedded on their urban layout order to provide a framework that helps understand the barriers to urban integration. Keywords: Urban fragmentation, Social polarization, City Amalgamation, Just Cities, Social-Spatial Justice
Introduction Urban development in Latin American cities has been realized under a combination of structural models within a context of inter-relations between capital interests, state and society (Peters, 2009). Throughout most of the 20th Century, these cities applied the classical patterns of the European settings. At first, were set to follow strict regulations and laws known as the Law of the Indies which included street widths, management of residences of the native populations, grid pattern that extended from east-west and north-south, among others. As a result, they were characterized by a dense, historical central core that contained mostly historical buildings, administrative and major representative buildings such as churches and city hall (Cabildos). Because it was the location of the main businesses, political and cultural centers it concentrated most of the capital investments; therefore, the best construction quality and architecture were founded here. The wealthy lived in the adjacent lots to the central plaza and the poor lived in the outskirts signifying further the distance from the central plaza equaled lower social status. In this aspect Latin American cities did not differ much from the European cities. Later on, the European City model transformed to the North American capitalist city model characterized by a central city surrounded by low-density suburbs (Peters, 2009). Under this model, the elite class started moving to the periphery, leaving the central city while the lower class started populating the central areas.