LEARNING FROM HAVANA - MIRAMAR - by Tim Pham

LEARNING FROM HAVANA - MIRAMAR -

Index Program 4 Introduction 11 Relation to Harbour History Changes 15 After the revolution Embassies Joint Ventures Business Section 17 General Streets Green Casa particulares Renovation Attractors 25 Beach Beach Clubs Business Center Supermarket Bars/Clubs Traffic Day/Night Hotels

Segregation 45 From Suburb to New Center 55 Apendix 57 Walks map Pictures Interviews

SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM 16-20.08

21.08 SUNDAY

INTRODUCTION

22.08 MONDAY

9-10 SITES INTRODUCTION

Palacio del Segundo Cabo

READING

10.30-6 CITY AND SITES TOUR

PORT/URBAN REDEVELOPMENT REFERENCE

Plaza de San Francisco

5-7 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

-Miramar -Vedado -Havana vieja -Puerto historico

23.0

TUES

9-6 SEMINAR DA

Palacio Conde -References -Presentation work methodo -Experts talks

1. Prof. Jorge Peñ 2. Arq. Kiovet Sán

Planner - Histori 3. Arq. David Mo Planner - Harbou

-Apero and gr

discussion

Hotel Nacional de Cuba

WELCOME DINNER

27.08 SATURDAY

10-6 MID-TERM CRITICS

Palacio Conde Cañongo

28.08 SUNDAY

MONDAY

30.

TUES

DAY FIELD STUDY

4-6 REVIEW (OPTIONAL)

4-6 REVIEW

EVENING MAPPING SYNTHESIS

EVENING MAPPING SY

Palacio Conde Cañongo with tutors

29.08

Palacio Conde Cañongo with tutors

Palacio Conde with tutors

M: LEARNING FROM HAVANA

.08

SDAY

e Cañongo

24.08 WEDNESDAY

9-4 FIELD STUDY

25.08 THRUSDAY

DAY FIELD STUDY

on field ology s:

roup

.08

SDAY

FRIDAY

MORNING FIELD STUDY

12-2 ROUND TABLE

ña Díaz, CUJAE nchez, City

ic centre oscoso, City ur

26.08

with experts

4.30-6 INITIAL REVIEW

4-6 REVIEW (OPTIONAL)

1. Prof. Klumpner, ETH - Urban Design 2. Dr. Javier Ortigosa, ETH Transport

EVENING MAPPING SYNTHESIS

Palacio Conde Cañongo -group review -ETH talks:

31.08

WEDNESDAY

10-6 MID-TERM CRITICS Fabrica de Arte

Palacio Conde Cañongo with tutors

consolidation of fieldwork maps/collage/etc.

01.09 THRUSDAY

10-2 WRAP-UP

-evaluation -delineation of final report

Palacio Conde Cañongo with tutors

02-30.09 REPORT

-finalization -group presentation

e Cañongo

YNTHESIS

Plano Reparto Miramar 10

Introduction Relation to Harbour Although Miramar is not located next to the harbour we think it can provide some interesting insights into the ongoing transformation process. As a very strong example of the so called blue strip and its characteristics as well as its development we can somehow see one possible future of the bay area. By looking at it we try to identify the driving processes and the potentials as well as the emerging problems. History To understand Miramar and to explain the origin of many of the main characteristics of the area we have to look into its past. Miramar was planned and built in 1945 with the picture of the American suburb in mind. This can still be seen in the larger block sizes, the relatively low building density, and the strong dependency on the car as means of transport. Furthermore, the quality of the building stock is relatively high. Another very important aspect of the development as a suburb is social milieu it was built for, namely rich people that were looking for something better than the foremost most sought after area Vedado, and the implications for the quality of the buildings which was relatively high what made them withstand the almost 60 years after the revolution relatively well.

First critic with cubans kids 12

5ta Avenida 14

Changes After the revolution One of the consequences of the social structure of Miramar was that after the revolution relatively many people from this area left the country. This increased the mixity of the neighbourhood and in particular added people with lower income and wealth. Embassies Very important for the development in Miramar are the embassies. They were situated along the 5th avenue already before the revolution and remained in place. This made the street very prestigious. The embassies guaranteed a steady influx of hard currency into the area. This can be seen as a starting point of the later development. Some of the employees and some of the ambassadors with their families are living in the area. This has two immediate effects: relatively high purchasing power, what made a lot of the economic development possible in the first place and better maintained buildings. Joint Ventures Another important factor is the location of joint ventures in the area. A development that started already in the 90s in is pretty unique for the whole of Havana. The government allowed the formation of joint ventures, half state owned, half privately owned which are situated within the residential area. This generated further income in an area that prior was solely depending on commuting. Because many of this companies do business with abroad the income is hard currency again. Businesses In Addition to the joint ventures other business activities have emerged. State run as well as privately owned ones, both mostly oriented towards end customers like shops, restaurants and Bars/Clubs. We found out about a short time period of about one year when the government was renting certain properties to businesses for 20 years, which seemed to be a very attractive offer. In the interview with the owner of one of the rented businesses, la chucheria, she told us that her break-even will be after five years which means 15 years of profits. In general, the restaurants are more â&#x20AC;&#x153;upper classâ&#x20AC;? and mostly pretty new. -> interview la chucheria

CEM Club

La Chucheria

House transformed for Casa particular

La Isla, real estate broker

Ira y 28 Club

Shortleaf Fig Tree

Section General In comparison to other parts of Havana the area is a lot less dense, the plots are larger, houses have a garden and a garage and as mentioned above the build substance is comparatively good. One of the developments we could observe is the visible and ongoing renovation of houses (-> interview owner casa particulares). Streets As can be seen in the section the area is strongly characterized by its avenues. The 1st avenue is located next to the sea. Striking is the bad water access and the contrast to the Malecon. Many of the Plots located at the coast are owned by businesses. Roughly every other street there are empty pockets (->picture) that grant direct access to the water. But they are rather hostile and full of debris and rubble. Although they offer no real possibility to go swimming we could observe people using them to just chill and enjoy the view onto the sea. Furthermore, fishermen were using the spot to sell fish and on one of them we found a fruit/vegetable shop. We will talk about the beach and the beach clubs in a later chapter. Because there are not too much residents in the 1st avenue this means that people only come there if they have a specific destination they want to get to. The 3rd avenue is used by the public transport and the collectivos and therefore heavily shaped by traffic related pedestrian flows and people waiting at bus stops. Moreover, the street has trees growing at both sides of it which offer much appreciated shade. The already above mentioned 5th avenue is the widest of all streets in the whole area. It has two lanes in both directions, a respective side walk and an additional pavement in the middle of the street. The traffic is very characteristic. Cars are allowed to drive faster than on other streets and there are a lot of them. They are coming in waves because of traffic lights. This gives the street the feeling of a pulsed highway. Still people use the pavement in the middle for walks. The 7th avenue is last of the avenues. After the 7th avenue the streets start to be oriented in 45Â° towards the streets shown in the section and the blocks become smaller and the plots too, and everything becomes a lot denser. The subjective feeling of us was still a very nice one though (->interviews). There is still a number of businesses on the 7th avenue but the area already starts to become more local for local (smaller shops, food, small repair facilities etc.) in addition to that the street is characterized by pedestrian transit coming from the 3rd and 5th and going towards the denser residential area. Again there are trees on both sides of the road.

Internet spot 18

Green The whole area is pretty green. There are trees planted along the avenues and some in the calles. Some of the gardens have additional plants. There is a number of parks which one of is a Wi-Fi spot (->interview) and therefore heavily used and the Monte Barreto park is really large and offers additional activities like horse riding (-> interview) and a restaurant that hosts childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birthdays and the like. Another thing that came to our attention were relatively newly planted palm trees in the streets which clearly were planted not by the government but by the adjacent households. Furthermore, calle 70 can be seen as a green axis. Casa particulares (interview) A factor that we did not pay too much attention to because we think it is more relevant in other parts of the city but still noteworthy in Miramar are casa particulares. They are definitely an occurring phenomenon with the same effect as in the rest of the city, they generate a business model for a property which because of that will normally be in a very good condition. Renovation (interview property guy) In general, we could observe a significant number of renovated houses. Some of the developments that we heard about are related to the newly opened housing market. A whole value chain has emerged. People renovate their homes to sell them or renovate them after they bought them, in both cases possibly with the help/money of family members living abroad. Another phenomenon are sales to exile Cubans. Although officially forbidden they happen in praxis with the help of Cuban middle man. Talking to a local real estate broker we were told the local prices are around 1000 CUC/sqm (->map). (-> interview buying/selling?)

Miramar, section

100

150

200

250

300 m

Miramar, plan & section

Precios 1000 cuc/sqm

1 Floor

~ 150 people/ha

Precios 800 cuc/sqm

2 Floors

~ 180 people/ha

Precios ~ 80 cuc/night

3 Floors

~ 200 people/ha

4 Floors 5 Floors Precios 1000 cuc/sqm

1 Floor

~ 150 people/ha

Precios 800 cuc/sqm

2 Floors

~ 180 people/ha

Precios ~ 80 cuc/night

3 Floors

~ 200 people/ha

4 Floors 5 Floors 22

Beach Club 24

Attractors Beach The Beach is one of the public accesses to the sea and one of the attractors of the area. We used this term to portray the effect that people from within Miramar as well as people from outside Miramar come to this places. This was quite surprising to us and one of the main findings of our analysis. Most of those attractors are located close to the seaside. We will describe the implications of that in the chapter on traffic. The beach itself attracts all kinds of people. We talked to teenagers, young families, singles couples, old people, locals even tourists. (->interview) One decisive factor is for sure the infrastructure that comes with it. There are Palm leave umbrellas providing shade, benches for sitting, stairs to get into the water, a serviced lifesaving tower (->interview), music, some booths with food and drinks and a close proximity to the public transport/the collectivos. We talked to an elderly local man who guaranteed us that the water quality was excellent. (-> interview) This infrastructure drastically differentiates the official beach from another large shore close by. (->picture). Consequently, nobody was using the other access to the sea. Beach Clubs There are a number of clubs that grant a direct sea access in Miramar. The one we looked at is among others historically important because some student groups forced the government even before the revolution to give the club as a facility to the students. After the revolution it changed its main user group several times and at the moment is open to everybody for a small fee. It has the character of a public pool and due to its wave breakers it allows also small children/families to swim in the sea which it is also targeted on. There have been problems with aggressive teenagers that could be solved by changing the type of music that was played at the pool! They are mainly frequented at the weekends and then have several hundred guests. Recently they have started to organize other events like movie nights, concerts and a car show at evenings during the week. Additionally, they rent the place to private groups, the student union etc. Unfortunately, the facility is quite old and the building and the pool etc. are in need of repair. Overall the place had the same strong attractor character as the beach, people from Miramar and outside of Miramar would come to visit it.

Paladar Vistamar club 26

Business Center The Miramar Trade Center is a one of a kind Business Complex in Cuba. At the moment it houses 150 stores, restaurants, offices and companies in six different buildings. Certain offers for example plain tickets from certain airlines are only available here. Furthermore, there is a Wi-Fi spot in the yard. Both makes it a very lively place and again because it is the only business center on the whole of Cuba it attracts people from all kinds of places to it and of course it offers quite some jobs. Supermarket Not as significant as the Trade Center but still a very frequented place is the Centro Comercial one of the larger supermarkets of Havana. Situated in a good strategical position next to the main public transportation streets 3rd avenue and calle 70 it offers quite a range of products in large quantities, some of them difficult to find elsewhere. We were told that people come here if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find the goods they want in other places. Bars/Clubs Although some of the restaurants are open during the day most of the commercial activities take place during the evening or in the case of the bars/clubs even at night. As can be seen in the section the businesses are located in the residential area as well. We experienced the implications of that during a night out in the area. Although the music didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really get through to the street all the smoking and chatting people caused quite some substantial noise. Furthermore, there was a constant haggle and group forming process going on next to the taxis. Several employees tried constantly to bring the volume down and to prevent people from sitting on the street. The clubs itself were packed although it was Thursday. The ratio was roughly half Cuban guests and half tourists. The music was very American; drinks were average priced for tourist standards. We were told that one of the clubs we went to had established white only nights. Another bar we visited serves coffee and food during the day and became a bar centered on drinks in the evening. It was mostly frequented by Cubans and there was even a queue outside. -> Interview bartender

Business Center, Internet point

"La Copa"

Hotel

Hotel Cluster

Attractors

Embassies Cluster

Mall

Business Cluster High Speed Street Seeside Wi-Fi Spot

"La Copa"

Hotel

Hotel Cluster

Attractors

Embassies Cluster Business Center Business Cluster Schools

High Speed Street Embassies Seeside Wi-Fi Spot Clubs Cuentapropistas

Relax Pedestrians 28

State facilities

Relax Pedestrians

Mall Business Center Schools Embassies Clubs Cuentapropistas State facilities

Attractors

150

300

450

600

750

900 m

Miramarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public beach

Pools Pockets Embassies Cluster

Caribbean Sea

Business Cluster

Water Access Potential Water Access Trees Green Space Potential Green Space

Sea access & Pockets

100

150

200

250

300 m

5ta Avenida

5ta Avenida by night 34

Traffic Day/Night As mentioned in the introduction the whole Miramar area was built for car based traffic. And indeed many of the rich people in the area do own a car and one can see a lot of them driving and parking in the street. Subjectively we had the feeling that there were more and more new cars than in other parts of the city. The rest of the people depend on the public transport namely the collectivos and busses on 3rd avenue and in calle 70. During normal conditions, daylight and no rain, those systems work pretty well and we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t encounter much difficulties using the public transport under those conditions. Quite the opposite we could get to Miramar from Vedado easier than expected. Considering the attractors, we named earlier they heavily depend on a functioning transportation system. Moreover, we talked to several people who commuted to Miramar for work who are also dependent on public transport. The whole think becomes a problem when the conditions change as soon as it starts raining it becomes extremely difficult to catch a collectivo and the busses are overcrowded and less frequent. At night the public transport stops around midnight. This means the only means of transport thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left for average people who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t own a car are regular taxis. This means the price for getting to Miramar with the bus was 5 Cuban cents but to get home after a night out you have to pay 6 or 7 CUC. This is almost 3000 times as much. This makes especially the nightlife rather expensive and creates a certain type of selection compared to going to la Rampa for example. Hotels Another issue is the bad integration of the hotels into the neighbourhood. There is a cluster of at least eight big hotels in Miramar. They have their own touristic bus line and otherwise rely on taxis. This detaches the guests from the area. Only a few of them visit local bars or restaurants otherwise they hop on and off the transport to go to the main attractions and other parts of the city without even interfering with Miramar.

Traffic

Tercera y calle 28

Bus

Hotel

Bus by Night

Attractors

Tourtist Tour

Mall

Collectivo

Business Center

HighHigh Speed Speed Street Street

Schools

Main Road

Embassies

Touristo Tour

Clubs

Pedestrians

Cuentapropistas

Relax Pedestrians Relax Pedestrians

State facilities

Taxi 36

Traffic

150

300

450

600

750

900 m

Traffic

Bus station

Bus

Hotel

Bus by Night

Attractors

Tourtist Tour

Mall

Collectivo

Business Center

HighHigh Speed Speed Street Street

Schools

Main Road

Embassies

Touristo Tour

Clubs

Pedestrians

Cuentapropistas

Relax Pedestrians Relax Pedestrians

State facilities

Taxi 38

Traffic

100

150

200

250

300 m

Avenue 1 st

3 rd

5 th

7 th

First Avenue 40

Transport

Day

Night

cars

88 (6 taxis)

10 (3 taxis)

people

cars

81 (14 taxis)

17 (5 taxis)

people

cars

292 (27 taxis)

64 (6 taxis)

people

cars

92 (5 taxis)

21 (3 taxis)

people

Business center 44

Segregation As one of the developments one has to follow critically in the future we want to bring attention to the changes in the social structure and their further acceleration. Although we could observe still a relatively diverse neighborhood, we could also see signs of a starting demixing. Even if the ownership structure does not allow for a gentrification process due to rising rents the house prices might be tempting for poorer families to sell which might not be wise thing to do given the possible significant future increase of property value in the area. One old guy we interviewed especially confirmed that after the revolution some â&#x20AC;&#x153;bad guysâ&#x20AC;? moved to the neighbourhood who were leaving again at the moment. (-> interview) Another practice we heard of was that people were buying apartment houses to convert them into single family houses afterwards. A further sign we observed was the increase of food prices. People told us they had to travel to another part of the city to buy staple foods.

If you have a business, you can restore your house.

If you have an access to the street you can start a business. 46

Unused sea access behind a Hotel

Public sea access club

Pockets

Zoning diagram

Precios 1000 cuc/sqm Precios 800 cuc/sqm Precios ~ 80 cuc/night

Café Fortuna

La Isla La Chuchería

Playa de 70

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000 m

Commuting area

Precios 1000 cuc/sqm

"La Copa"

Precios 800 cuc/sqm

Hotel Cluster

Precios ~ 80 cuc/night

Embassies Cluste Business Cluster Seeside Wi-Fi Spot

Café Fortuna

La Isla La Chuchería

er Playa de 70

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000 m

La COPA center, left

La COPA center, right 54

From Suburb to New Center As an overall analysis we want to post the hypothesis of Miramar becoming a new center in its own right. In contrast to the beginning where we introduced Miramar as the new suburb we think according to the points we have discussed so far we can see some significant changes. First due to the economic development of the newly opened business, the joint ventures and the still expanding Trade Center we see Miramar becoming more self-sufficient and less of a bedroom town. Quite a significant number of people we talked to were even commuting to Miramar without living there. This is a pattern that can also be seen with the people flows of the other attractors during the day but also during the night.

Michael, Adria & Tim. 56

Apendix

Interviews We did the interviews with always the same method. The idea was to understand what were the travels the people were doing on a regular base. Here are a basic set of questions:

Walks

Where do you live? Where do you work? Why do you come here? Do you want to stay/move from Miramar? Are you going to buy/sell? Do you like it? Why? What could you change? Which changes do you see? How does it affect your behavior? Sometimes we were adding some questions: Where do you go for swimming Why? WIth which frequency?

Pools

1st Day

Pockets

1st Day by Night

Embassies Cluster

Caribbean Sea

2nd Day

Business Cluster

Water Access

2nd Day by Night

Potential Water Access

3nd Day

Trees

4th Day

Green Space

Interview

Potential Green Space

Collectivo Taxi

150

300

450

600

750

900 m

Interviews result

Playa de 70 • Transporte: Bus P-1 , P-10 , 179 • 50% vecinos • 50% otros municipios • Preferencias: Tranquilidad, el mar y la zona (Miramar) • 40% trabajan • Principales problemas: Accesibilidad, suciedad, mobiliario • 5 años atras: ahora +negocios, +casas arregladas, +diferen cias Balneario 42 • Lugar familiar • 5 CUP entrada • 20 CUP x Persona para alquilar local (20 – 120 personas) • Servicios : Musica, Conciertos, Comida, Bebida, Playa • 2012 cambio de usuarios, para mejor • 50% locales • 50% otros municipios • Wi-Fi La Chucheria • 6 categorias de empleados. 25 trabajando • Arrendatario de PALCO por 10 años • Remodelación y ampliación • Inversion a recuperar en 5 años • 2 años establecidos • Problemas con las importaciones desde enero 2016 • Habaguanex, única empresa para reabastecer (solo 1 sucursal) • Servicio excelente

La Isla • Compra / Venta / Permuta (0 hasta la fecha) • Gestión = 5% del total • Miramar = 1000 CUC x m2 • Vedado = 800 CUC x m2 • Periferias = 400 CUC x m2 • 2 años establecidos • 4000 inmuebles en oferta • Para vivir : 1.Miramar 2.Vedado 3.Habana Vieja • Para negocios : 1.Habana Vieja 2.Vedado 3.Miramar • + popular : apartamentos entre 20 000CUC – 40 000CUC (Miramar-Vedado)

Café Fortuna • 1. Paladar → 2. Bar-Discoteca → 3. Café Fortuna • Usuarios principales : Cubanos, locales, adolescentes / adul tos • 2 años establecidos • Nuevas ofertas de empleo • Buen pago (20 CUC x noche en propinas) • Facilidades para trabajadores • Lugar famoso • Buena ubicación, lugar agradable

CHARTER 1. Access - Keep the waterfront public and provide some quality facilities. 2. Segregation - Provide public transport, day and night, and hinder property accumulation. 3. Neighbourhood - Allow for economic activities in residential areas. Aim for the opportunity to live, work and shop in the same neighbourhood. 4. Tourism - Root tourism in the neighbourhood and diversify. There is more than tourism.

Motivation letters

Noack Michael

LEARNING FROM HAVANA As a Master Student of Management Technology and Economics with a background in Industrial Engineering Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m highly interested in the joint impact of technology and business on society. So far I was used to look at it through the lenses of innovation and business models. However, this semester, listening to the lecture on Urban Stories by Prof. Klumpner and Prof. Brillembourg I came to realise a whole new universe. And I instantly knew: This is something I want to learn more about! Therefore, I am really excited about the Summer School in Havana: How else can one learn better than by immersion and how can I immerse myself better into the subject of urban design than by participating in a real project. The task itself sounds very challenging but also extremely fascinating. Helping the local people to develop a vision for such a large and defining area by looking at it from different angles and using the urban design toolbox will hopefully be catalytic and empowering. In Birmingham UK were I spent half a year I was very fascinated by all the life and creativity that sprouted out of the post industrialised structures. I would absolutely love to contribute to such a process and learn more about urban design and about Cuba of course.

Tim Pham

LEARNING FROM HAVANA La Havana is today a unique urban case study. There are not many countries left which have remained isolated since the end of the cold war. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t live during the cold war but I still can feel the consequences of it. I think my generation has a lot to do address these effects and give answers to the questions that arise. It seems to me that these effects are for the most invisible or at least well hidden. 90% of the world trade is made by sea. The harbour is the connection between the sea and the land. Harbours in the whole world have changed a lot with new technologies. To study the harbour of La Havana may give us the possibility to better understand our world and what the challenges are. It should give use some tools to understand how our world could evolve, even more since the country was closed by the blocus imposed by the United States. What can we save and how can save it ? It would have a great interest in visiting La Havana. I see this occasion as a possibility to continue my semester. The reality aspect of our project was a big part of our work this year. I see this workshop as an occasion to confront what I have learned this semester with a new urban case study.

Adria ValdĂŠs Peyrellade Michael Noack Tim Pham UTH, La Habana & ETH, Zurich 68