Dave Hampton Harvard GSD MDes Risk and Resilience 2016 thesis

RE:GROUNDING RESILIENCE Networked and Productive Landscapes in Cuba DAVE HAMPTON

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RE:GROUNDING RESILIENCE: Networked and Productive Landscapes in Cuba by Dave Hampton Bachelor of Architecture, Virginia Tech, 1995 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Design Studies Risk + Resilience At the Harvard University Graduate School of Design May, 2016 Copyright Š 2016 by Dave Hampton The author hereby grants Harvard University permission to reproduce and distribute copies of this Final Project, in whole or in part for educational purposes.

Signature of the Author _________________________________________________________________ Dave Hampton Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Certified by ___________________________________________________________________________ Dilip da Cunha Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design Harvard University Graduate School of Design

____________________________________ Pierre BĂŠlanger

Master in Design Studies, Co-Chair

Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture

_____________________________________ Kiel Moe Master in Design Studies, Co-Chair Associate Professor of Architecture and Energy 3

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RE:GROUNDING RESILIENCE Networked and Productive Landscapes in Cuba

Dave Hampton

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Copyright © 2016 by Dave Hampton

_ Dedicated to Elsa Hampton and to the memory of Dave Hampton, Sr. and to Anya Brickman Raredon, without whose support this work would be inconceivable Thanks to the inspiration and guidance of my advisor, Dilip da Cunha, and the co-directors of the MDes Risk + Resilience concentration Diane Davis and Rosetta Sarah Elkin, and for the valued input and encouragement of Carlos Acevedo, Leonardo Sánchez Acevedo, Steven Apfelbaum, Jack Bolland, Claudia Castillo, Monica Chadha, Miguel Coyula, Belmont Freeman, David Guggenheim, Justin Henceroth, Shanika Hettige, Michael Hooper, Orlando Inclán, Carly James, Namik Mačkić, Evangeline McGlynn, Brett Moore, Leida Fernandez Prieto, Oscar Natividad Puig, Rashmi Ramaswamy, Joe Roman, Joseph L. Scarpaci, Vero Smith, Lisa Smyth, Enrique Silva, Jorge Angulo Valdés, Lawrence J. Vale, Jaime Young, and Jane Zhang.

Special thanks to the collaborative efforts and assistance of Kimberley Cullen, Christian Hobbs, and Matthew Merrill.

Additional thanks to the partnership of the Affordable Housing Institute on the ‘Cuba Facing Forward’ conference, and to its sponsors and supporters.

For use of the concept of the edible lawn, I am indebted to Michael Repkin.

I am grateful to an unwitting partner - Roly Chino, wherever he may be - for the use of his photos.

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TABLA DE CONTENIDO TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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FRAMING

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Models

The risk of replication: Lessons from Medellín

Impacts and connections

On process

Cuba Faces Forward: A conference as testing-ground

Context: Socialism in transition

Regrounding resilience

Towards a methodology

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INTERVENTION 1: Limonar - Field of Dreams

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1.00 Prelude: The cast of characters

1.01 The stage

1.1 Entry

1.2 Currency exchange

1.3 Parish church

1.4 Courtyard gardens

1.5 ‘Reprogrammed’ sugar mill

1.6 Field of dreams

1.7 Agricultural recolonization

INTERVENTION 2: Matanzas - Hosting the Raindrop

32 35 40 42 44 46 50 56 60

66 76 78 80

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4

Relocation Incline and Sustain The resilience of relocation: Lessons from Port-au-Prince New connections

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INTERVENTION 3: Policy - A Seat at the Table

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BIBLOGRAPHY

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ADDENDA

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ENMARCACIÓN FRAMING

Fig. 1: Models of models

Fig. 2: Models as being of lesser importance than the relationships within and between.

Models The dominant (international) development narrative – whereby foreign investment and power is wielded by the few and leveraged in a space and time of political, economic, or social transition – induces external and internal pressures. A unique set of risks arises: 1. Importing models of development which are inappropriate to the context 2. Subverting existing institutions 3. Dampening the potential of collective and networked action 4. Benefitting some groups of people while marginalizing others 5. Upsetting delicate environmental and socio-economic balances Anyone who has traveled recently to places such as Spain’s Costa del Sol, Cancún, or most anywhere in the Caribbean is painfully aware of the first.

How models move is arguably as complex as those processes which shape them, rather than being simply imported wholesale, descending from ‘above’ or ‘below’ or being easily scaled or replicated (Fig. 1). We may liken the proliferation and mobility of models - cropping up here and there, often in the most unexpected of places - to the mobility of policies (Peck & Theodore, 2010).

First, policies are socially constructed, establishing dialogic connections between actors and sites. Second, they are comprised of actors which are sociologically complex, rarely acting alone, with shifting motivations. Third, policies arrive “already-in-transformation”, moving in bits and pieces rather than presenting themselves fully-fleshed.

Fourth, policies reproduce nonlinearly. Finally, policies operate on “a three-dimensional mosaic of increasingly reflexive forms of governance, shaped by multidirectional forms of cross-scalar and interlocal policy mobility.”

Models, continue Peck and Theodore, “do not simply designate place-specific processes of innovation or sites of creative invention, as the diffusionist paradigm might have it; they connote networks of policymaking sites, linked by overlapping ideological orientations, shared aspirations, and at least partly congruent political projects.”

Models move and proliferate because they have advocates, having been “ideologically anointed or sanctioned.”

But first, let us explore the possibility of another risk: that of the replication of models in the absence of context.

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Figs. 3-5: Quebrada Juan Bobo creek relocation project, Medellín, Colombia.

The risk of replication Lessons from Medellín

The prevailing popular (and professional) perception of Medellín, Columbia as a ‘model’ for the (re)development of a city is one example where even such a counter-model, antithetical to the NGO- and foreign government-driven model of international development, might gain traction internationally, risking becoming – in itself – yet another international model to be applied without full understanding of the contexts and forces which shaped it.

The temptation to replicate is great.

Miguel Robles Durán, a recent visitor to Medellín, was surprised to find that a well-intentioned and well-educated group of Cuban and international professionals concerned with the redevelopment of Havana seemed to be taking in the sights of Medellín uncritically, and with an eye toward applying not the processes, but the resultants to a Cuban context (Durán, 2016). Medellín dazzled – its transportation systems: Metrocables soaring above, its architecture: the striking onyx forms of the Biblioteca España and the soaring, flowering latticework of the Orqideorama, and new infrastructure: public stairs, plazas, and colorful bridges linking neighborhoods across a ravine.

Peter Brand writes of the effects of Medellín’s self- (and external) branding, often

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shallowly understood as an updating of the public space-making ‘Barcelona model’, cautioning that the restructuring of city’s image as progressive, enlightened, and innovative threatens to pervert the political underpinnings of social urbanism (Brand, 2015). To see the ‘Medellín model’ applied across the land may be just as misguided as to (mis)apply any model before it.

Medellín’s experiment with ‘social urbanism’ under the administration of Sergio Fajardo, a mathematician turned reform politician, is well documented. Fajardo – also the son of an architect – and his interdisciplinary team – which included architects and planners in prominent roles – was able to build upon a growing popular exhaustion with a decades-long history of drug crime and violence, directing it into an intensive participatory planning process. Fajardo and team were able to apply the resultant ‘social urbanist’ principles through a combination of existing and new legislative and management structures. PRIMED, begun in 1993, while tied to mayoral administration, “managed to lay down the bases for a new form of tackling marginality, for its methodological design, the capacity for achieving management and institutional coordination” The 2004 Municipal Development Plan, refined during the community engagement process, identified and prioritized Strategic Urban Projects and Integral Urban Projects – such as the aforementioned ‘Library-Parks’, Juan Bobo Creek redevelopment (Figs. 3-5), and other infrastructure – locating their management under the direct control of the Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano (EDU), a decentralized and quasi-independent planning and development entity which is part of Medellín’s municipal government. Finally, funding for the new civic interventions

drew upon the financial support of international partners, the state-owned utilities company EPM, and several national funding streams, such as the reframing of socially-engaged work as ‘cultural patrimony’ to reach federal arts and culture funds.

Thus, during a unique point in the trajectory of the city and of Colombia, the implementation of Medellín’s iconic public works occurred over a secure continuum convened by design and planning - a politicization of design, to paraphrase designer and activist Teddy Cruz, whereby urban design was brought (back) into city management.

Medellín stands as exemplary of both a synthesis of ideals and the capacity to act, under the aegis of design, but in terms of process, should be understood as being inextricable from its particular time and place.

Impacts and interconnections Architect and planner Dilip da Cunha has cautioned against urbanism, or, more specifically, the risks of urbanization as an industry upon which international development depends, and its impact on environments. More germane to the discussion of models, da Cunha encouraged focusing on projects wherever they may be located.

Referencing Alejandro Echverri, the architect and planner most instrumental in Medellín’s Strategic Urban Projects, da Cunha said “some of your projects in Medellín…

I don’t think they are there for the city. You could see them that way. But I think they contribute on the Columbian stage. They contribute on the world stage. They are much larger in their impact.” (Affordable Housing Institute, Hampton, & Brickman Raredon, 2016).

However, does this refer to a model, or a process?

To what extent might the model be the process?

If we allow the tension inherent between the general and the specific, or the generalizable from the specific conditions of a particular context, to become less acute, what possibilities present themselves?

Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman have noted in Medellín the logic of focusing on global challenges “right here”(Cruz & Forman), and have attempted to put into action global justice at the municipal scale in their own work at the Tijuana-San Diego border. Their call for the reconstruction of urban governance and the resuscitation of civic lineages imbedded in a city’s institutional framework is a stirring one.

In terms of actionability, their example of the removal of a barrier wall in an old bo-

tanic garden separating the informal settlement of Moravia from new connections to Medellín’s city center is a simple, but extremely effective, catalytic project. This resonates with Cruz and Forman’s staging of a crossing, again at the Tijuana-San Diego border, though a sewer culvert to highlight issues of environmental and human impact in all senses of those terms. These small manifestations of global justice, insist Cruz and Forman, are scalable.

If part of the power of policies and models are their mobility and mutability, and if they are able to move across political and physical boundaries, cities speaking directly to each other - further evidenced by the Rockfeller Foundation’s focus on the municipal scale through their 100 Resilient Cities initiatives (Rockefeller Foundation, 2016) - how might we begin to leverage the possibility of testing models in unique, specific contexts, not necessarily for application of the model itself more broadly, but to leave the ‘residue’ of the process, the traces of unraveled strings (Fig. 2) within that particular context?

What if, rather than fearing the descent of models from on high, or their stealthy approach from abroad, models themselves were downplayed, becoming of comparately less importance than the units and actors within and between (Fig. 2)? This shift away from the model itself and towards the machinations within - and among - presents the possibility that one actor or relationship might be teased out to make the difference in whether the implmentation of a policy or model might even be attempted, resulting at the very least in unexpected interactions, especially in a rigid contexts where such unsanctioned interactions might not otherwise occur.

In short, how might we leave the imprints of a process upon - within and among - local actors: institutions, organizations, people? And what might this process look like?

On Process Sharon Sutton and Susan Kemp detail the objectives and outcomes of an interdisciplinary design charette which involved students and faculty from design, planning, social science, and members of three U.S. communities. Among the advantages noted were the use of visualization tools to engage community members in co-learning – in this case specifically aerial photographs – which allowed a more intuitve understanding of the excess of paved areas within a business district than counts of traffic and parking spaces could provide. “By using designers’ tools, the group evolved a shared vision that reflected [local] expert wisdom and it’s own heightened awareness.” (Sutton & Kemp, 2006)

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Fig. 6: Ecology, Culture, and Community panel from the ‘Cuba Facing Forward’ conference. From left: Ajejandro Echeverri, David Guggenheim, Jorge Angulo Valdés, Dilip da Cunha, and Dave Hampton.

The authors go on to detail the tensions between disciplines – design and social science – and two types of technical knowledge – “the visual, subjective, and specific knowledge of designers and the analytical, objective, and generalizable knowledge of social scientists” against the “practical knowledge of community members.”

In the more successful charettes, design becomes that force capable of suspending the limitations of existing conditions and allowing others to envision what might be.

“By equipping community members with the tools of design, they begin to see familiar places with a new clarity and detachment, observing their neighborhood with suspended skepticism, which provided the groundwork for envisioning novel possibilities.”

“While social scientists would find it foolhardy to attempt interventions before fully understanding a problem, studies have found that testing potential solutions relative to the situation under study is essential to design. Thus, successful designers aggressively impose their view of the situation, tackling the problem simultaneously.”

In short, interdisciplinarity might be characterized as having inherent tensions when it involves expected outcomes: for disciplinary lines to be reinforced or defended, types of knowledge as distinct but complimentary, and the reluctance of / necessity of proposing interventions.

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Cuba Faces Forward: A conference as testing-ground One needs look no further than contemporary Cuba for a context which presents immense possibility for challenging of the nature of models and the potential of applying the creative tensions of interdisciplinarity, within a unique space and time of transition.

Recognizing a critical moment in history, the November 14th, 2015 conference ‘Cuba Facing Forward: Balancing transition with development in the Caribbean’s mostwatched nation’ was developed by myself, the Affordable Housing Institute, and students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design to explore the changes taking place in Cuba-U.S. relations and how those changes might impact the built and natural environments in Cuba. Speakers included leading professionals, both Cuban and international, in architecture, urban planning, ecology, law, real estate development, and scientific research.

(For more information, please see a summary of the conference in the Addenda, and for continuing conversation, see cubatransition.org).

The primary goals of the conference were to: • Create an open, frank, and constructive discourse on Cuba’s future.

• Explore the possible effects of transition on Cuba’s built and natural environment, and how to harness the forces of change to improve both.

• Foster an ongoing multi-party conversation leading to guiding principles for

Fig. 7: Cuba Facing Forward’ conference closing discussion.

economic, ecological, and cultural resilience in Cuba.

The conference was used partly as an opportunity to workshop the following framing questions, which would inform later research questions: 1. The economy, built environment, and ecology all influence each other, which, in turn affect and are affected by government policy and regulation.

How can Cuba find a way forward that yields a sustainable, prosperous, inclusive island that at the same time maintains its distinctive Cuban character?

What can we do to help achieve that vision?

2. What is a transition? Who - and what - sees this as a transition? Is there a transition underway? If so, what is being transitioned? Where do the environment and development fit in?

3. U.S. impact: Will an increasing thaw in Cuba-U.S. relations – driving an increasing number of tourists and investment from the U.S. – tip an already delicate balance of foreign interests and influence in Cuba? What role will / should Cuban expatriates play? How might these challenges be shifted from risk to advantage?

4. How can Cuba become a model of resilient transitional development for future contexts that weaves together the built and ‘natural’ environments? What planning and regulatory tools will need to be strengthened and enforced, and

what will need to be introduced to allow for effective implementation?

5. Is the preferred/ideal development model merely a continuation of the traditional, business-as-usual model, or, does it require an updating of accepted development practice to arrive at a more considered, measured, and appropriate paradigm?

From the conference, key themes emerged: • The need to question the dominant international model of development and investment • Optimism, confidence, and faith existing side-by-side with trepidation as to the nature of change, and what that change might bring.

• The tendency toward bilateralism • The importance of building partnerships, interdisciplinary approaches, and collaboration within and with Cuba, rather than the simple application of models from outside the island • The high capacity of Cuban professionals was repeatedly emphasized, in particular highlighting the possibilities of the imaginative, projective, and entrepreneurial thinking that design processes could enable.

Many of these themes resonate with - and reinforce - the earlier framing with respect to the nature of models and interdisciplinary process, pointing the way to an operating ethos, which we will sharpen by focusing on additional background in Cuba.

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Figs. 8-10: Relocations of coastal communities by the Institute of Physical Planning: demolition of nonconforming buildings along the coastal zone outside Havana (left); at transition community at Playa Rosario stands incomplete (center); the ruins of Playa Rosario, abandoned in 2005 during Hurricane Wilma (right)

Context: Socialism in transition Cuba has been moving toward a hybrid form of Socialism over the last 25 years.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba’s benefactor and prime trading partner and the announcement of the ‘Special Period in a Time of Peace’, important legal and economic reforms began to occur in the late 1990s and after the ascendancy of Raúl Castro in 2008 (Hernández & Domínquez, 2013; Stricker, 2007).

These reforms have strengthened environmental regulation, better codified foreign investment, and further opened a window for small-scale free enterprise. However, this period appears to have failed to make inroads into the tendency of power to be concentrated in a top-down, bureaucratic, and siloed national government and for non-state actors to be ignored (Affordable Housing Institute, Hampton, & Brickman Raredon, 2016). The latter, coupled with the adoption of more conciliatory policies between Cuba and the United States in 2014 presents a potential tipping point - primarily in the form of additional tourists and foreign investment - which leaves open the possibility of widening social and economic inequity in Cuba.

As marine researcher and scientist Jorge Angulo Valdés has said, “Cuba is a country full of contradiction” and remains so.

Decree-Law 212 (see Addenda), for example, gives teeth to environmental regulation 14

in the face of land subsidence and sea level rise without necessarily providing for much nuance. This legislation allows for human habitations in coastal areas identified by the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) as being threatened by sea level rise to be slated for re-accomodación - wholesale relocation - by the Institute of Physical Planning (IPF)(Environment Directorate of the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA), Environmental Defense Fund, and Tulane University, 2003). However, because of budgetary constraints and a stiff regulatory approach, this model of relocation does not insure follow-though in constructing adequate ‘replacement’ communities, such as that at Playa Rosario (Figs. 9-10) which was relocated with little to no participation by the communities themselves (Pickett, 2015).

The rise of the non-state sector, or sectór no-estatal is an exciting example, but holds inherent risk as well in terms of inequity. It has been estimated that of Cuba’s population of 11.3 million, as many as 1.2 million, or 23% of the labor force, now comprise the non-state sector. Within this category, cuentapropistas (see p.84 for a list), or regulated legal independent businesses, number over 500,000 (Mesa-Lago, Veiga, & Gonzalez, 2016; Henken, 2015).

Informal and collective economies, the potential of which was first explored during the Cuba Facing Forward conference, must also be recognized. The U.S. State Department estimates remittances from families abroad to their counterparts in Cuba at

Fig. 11-13: The risks of the non-state sector: who will be responsible for equitable housing? Afro-Cuban neighborhoods in poor condition a short walk from the pristinely-restored UNESCO World Heritage center of Trinidad (left); disparity in the improvement of properities in Havana (center); when planning was central, strong, and top-down: new development of La Habana del Este, near Havana, 1959-61.

being between $1.4 (billion) and $2 billion (Lovitt, 2015). However, architect and planner Miguel Coyula notes “remittances sent by Cuban émigrés is shifting away from merely helping their Cuban family members to survive, or ease their lives, to investment in properties, small businesses, and the improvement of both.” Coyula noted inequities between haves and have-nots, the latter usually Afro-Cubans (Fig. 11) (Affordable Housing Institute, Hampton, & Brickman Raredon, 2016), widening a disparity already evident in an institutionalized socialism already under pressure, internal and external.

In terms of industry, especially agriculture, models - and their mobilty - again loom large. Cuba has a new opportunity to continue to reverse both a colonial legacy of environmental manipulation: overproduction and irrigation contributing to the depletion of soil nutrients, deforestation, and a general decline in rivers and streams tapped for irrigation - and the neocolonial model of the Soviet-bloc: intensive petrochemical-input, mechanically-driven monocrop production. Regarding the latter, Miguel Coyula notes “what we inherited from them was that what matters is the goal, not the process.” Due to the global shift in sugar production, sugar is no longer ‘king’ in Cuba, with Cuba’s former Ruhr – El Valle de Los Ingenios, where large, booming sugar plantations once proliferated – ceasing to be competitive in global markets since the mid-1990’s (Stricker, 2007; Scarpaci, 2009).

ment (Altieri, Funes-Monzote, Petersen, 2012; Clouse, 2014; Cruz, 2003; Funes, 2002, Stricker, 2007) Cuba is also in a position to reimagine its agricultural landscapes - as will be seen in Intervention 1 (p. 21).

Finally, with regards to the agency of planning and design, Cuba’s trajectory has been away from centralized and powerful planning to a more ad-hoc approach.

The establishment of the aforementioned IPF following the success of the Revolution in 1959 marked a period characterized by the ability to implement large planning works with a high level of design, such as Habana del Este (Fig. 13). Since 1991, there has been a marked decline, with a tendency towards reactivity and sectoriality (Affordable Housing Institute, Hampton, & Brickman Raredon, 2016; Valladares 2013).

Architects, in particular, have seen their agency greatly eroded. The intial successes of the Community Architect program, established in 1993 and modeled on participatory consultation with families for the design of homes, has been overtaken by the National Housing Institute in 2001 and reduced to a bureaucratic function.

Design professionals are few in number in proportion to population and unable to work legally outside government positions, often driving them to work on the side, furtherremoving the possibilty to positively influence the broader built environment.

Building on well-documented successes of the organic urban agricultural move15

Regrounding resilience If there is a chance of teasing out those locations - “unraveling the string”, so to speak - where actors may be brought into dialogue with each other, those spaces and actors must be understood.

A simple ‘Community resilience opportunities stakeholder matrix’ (Figs. 14-15) is proposed in order to map the possible actors/agencies in the vertical against the activity - and phase - along the horizontal, with the example being the implementation of any built work such as housing or infrastructure. One might reasonably infer other activities as (international development agencies might define them) such as livelihoods, building construction standards, etc.

For Cuba, the greatest amount of activity tends to cluster at the national level (B), with its proliferation of government ministries. Dialogue rarely occurs other than between the international level (A), again, due to tight government control. For example, negotiations with foreign companies such as hotel developers Bouygues or Melia can only happen with national government. Due to lack of available data, the regional or provincial level (C) remains ill-defined, but some evidence does point to both a lack of capacity at this level and an acknowledgement by the government to address it (Hernández & Domínquez, 2013). At the municipal / local level (D) again,

little information was available, but again evidence points to a lack of capacity and agency, especially to influence and implement other than at small scales, such as that of individual homes and businesses (Affordable Housing Institute, Hampton, & Brickman Raredon,

2016; Mesa-Lago, Veiga, & Gonzalez, 2016; Henken, 2015).

The latter presents inherent risks, especially in a climate of transition not as capable of delivering affordable and equitable housing.

If we begin to put the matrix through its paces (Fig. 15), we can test scenarios.

For example, the majority of small improvements can occur using small investors (remittances, A2) for families with access to such funds. However, what of marginalized populations, such as Afro-Cuban neighborhoods in poor condition a short walk from the pristinely-restored UNESCO World Heritage center of Trinidad (Fig. 11)?

This may be why some mix of other financing (e.g. INGO, multilateral) is needed in some cases.

Additonal capacity might be ‘grounded’ at the community level if the matrix is filled in with additional structures at the regional/provincial level (C) or municipal/local 16

levels (D). For example, a Junta de Acción (C4, D4- yellow highlight) - a joint action committee prevalent in Colombia and other Latin American countries - is an excellent precdent. Such additional capacity would increase the possibility of both implementing and conceiving of projects, reducing the risk of inapproriate models subverting or ‘steamrolling’ local actors, institutions, and networks.

Other specific scenarios are notable: A3-1 standards: Possibly INGOS, but their strengths tend not to favor

international standards but rather individual internal (I)NGO processes

A3-1 sites:

Multi-site assessment by an international NGO on criteria formed by national govt and local community action group.

A3-5/6 standards: INGOs, rather than providing services which Cuban entrepre neurs can do, might be well-suited to evaluate success or fail

ures and help evaluate how a code or new housing program might be designed.

A8-1 standards: Harmonize with best international practices and standards.

A8-5/6 standards: Partnerships between academic institutions would be an

excellent synergy, well-suited to evaluate success or failures

and help evaluate how a code or new housing program might be designed.

C2-4 standards: Interface with local architects hired to do construction obser-

vation /oversight, see below.

D3-1 services:

An electrician could assess how to upgrade a house, but can they currently advise on a block-scale solar PV retrofit? Is this a new potential job, or teaching existing electricians a skillset?

An electrical engineer cannot operate an independent business.

D3-4 standards: Architects hired to do construction observation / oversight, to

compliment inspection by local enforcement officials.

A. International 1. investors, large 2. investors, small (remittances) 3. INGOs 4. UN 5. foreign govts 6. foreign companies 7. multilateral lending agencies (WB, IDB) 8. academia B. National 1. Ministry of Environment 2. Institute of Physical Planning 3. National Hydraulic Resources Institute 4. Academia de Ciencias 5. Ministry of Agriculture 6. Ministry of Construction 7. Ministry of the Economy and Planning 8. Nat'l Institute of Housing 9. Minstry of Transportation 10. Ministry of Basic Industry 11 12. Association of Artists and Writers 13. civil society (ex. Antonio Nunez Fnd) 14. academia C. Regional (provincial) 1. Physical Planning Provincial Directorate 2. Community Architect 3. civil society

Fig. 14

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

3

sites

3

finance

2

livelihoods

2

standards

6. Operate Run businesses.

Continue to respond to changing market needs. Provide additional feedback, statistics.

housing

5. Evaluate Assess the degrees of success/failure of the implemented project, and inform the design of future intiatives, programs, standards

services / infra

4. Implement Build/redevelop it!

Ongoing inspections and quality control oversight needed.

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

3. Design + permit Undertake the design and engineering of improvements.

Permiting and licensing process.

M Y Y Y Y Y Y Y CITMA IPF

MINAG

NIH

D. Municipal and local 1. Physical Planning Provincial Directorate 2. community development agency CEDEL 3. cuentapropistas / individual contractors 5. collective(s) 6. construction companies 7. inspectors

sites

DO THEY EXIST?

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE STAKEHOLDER OPPORTUNITIES MATRIX LOCATION: CUBA PHASING 1. Assess 2. Select/link Evaluate existing Prioritze sites for conditions. Allow real improvement. Link on-­‐the-­‐ground sites and actors conditions to dictate (owners, developers) criteria vs. using to promote synergies arbitrary criteria and of uses approaches YEAR IN TIMELINE 0-­‐1 0-­‐1 LEVEL ACTOR / AGENCY ACRONYM

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Y M

Y M M Y Y M

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Fig. 15

A. International 1. investors, large 2. investors, small (remittances) 3. INGOs 4. UN 5. foreign govts 6. foreign companies 7. multilateral lending agencies (WB, IDB) 8. academia B. National 1. Ministry of Environment CITMA 2. Institute of Physical Planning IPF 3. National Hydraulic Resources Institute 4. Academia de Ciencias 5. Ministry of Agriculture MINAG 6. Ministry of Construction 7. Ministry of the Economy and Planning 8. Nat'l Institute of Housing NIH 9. Minstry of Transportation 10. Ministry of Basic Industry 11 12. Association of Artists and Writers 13. civil society (ex. Antonio Nunez Fnd) 14. academia C. Regional (provincial) 1. Physical Planning Provincial Directorate 2. Community Architect 3. civil society 4. Junta de Acción Regional 5. construction companies D. Municipal and local 1. Physical Planning Provincial Directorate 2. community development agency CEDEL 3. cuentapropistas / individual contractors 4. Junta de Acción Communal 5. collective(s) 6. construction companies 7. inspectors

M Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

Y M

N N Y M M N Y N M

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

3

services / infra

3

sites

2

finance

2

livelihoods

6. Operate Run businesses.

Continue to respond to changing market needs. Provide additional feedback, statistics.

standards

5. Evaluate Assess the degrees of success/failure of the implemented project, and inform the design of future intiatives, programs, standards

housing

4. Implement Build/redevelop it!

Ongoing inspections and quality control oversight needed.

services / infra

3. Design + permit Undertake the design and engineering of improvements.

Permiting and licensing process.

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

sites

finance

livelihoods

standards

housing

services / infra

sites

DO THEY EXIST?

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE STAKEHOLDER OPPORTUNITIES MATRIX LOCATION: CUBA PHASING 1. Assess 2. Select/link Evaluate existing Prioritze sites for conditions. Allow real improvement. Link on-­‐the-­‐ground sites and actors conditions to dictate (owners, developers) criteria vs. using to promote synergies arbitrary criteria and of uses approaches YEAR IN TIMELINE 0-­‐1 0-­‐1 LEVEL ACTOR / AGENCY ACRONYM

Fig. 16. Proto-organizational chart: approaching a more complimentary structure of actors at national, provincial (left) and municipal levels (right).

Towards a methodology Taking cue from the ‘Community resilience opportunities stakeholder matrix’ (Figs.

13-14), I seek less to define an overarching structure and to fill in voids, but rather to allow to find compliments between levels (Fig. 16) and allow for the more fluid interplay described by Peck and Theodore, whereby interchange may occur.

Let us, then, propose the interventions in specific contexts.

If social urbanism projects in Medellín presented a rare alignment of stars which allowed for the placing of design as central to the shaping of civic ideals – and spaces – and Cruz and Fonna’s work in(-between) Tijuana-San Diego as a quest to make the global critical by acting locally though design, Cuba’s unique context presents similar opportunities, less for deploying a new model, but for attempting a methodology: restoring design as a critical, convening force at the local level, bringing actors and disciplines often siloed - and with little reason to interact otherwise - into direct and proactive contact within a community of design.

Contrary to the dominant models of (international) development, this new methodology would support the following goals:

• Support existing institutions

• Encourage nascent sectors/markets

• Foster interdisciplinary collaboration

• Find new linkages and networks

• Create a framework where people may realize their full potential as

part of a broader design community.

19

20

INTERVENCIÓN 1: LIMONAR CAMPOS DE SUEÑO FIELDS OF DREAMS

21

Map of Cuba’s networks: topography (gray), roads (white), and railroads (aqua).

22

Limonar derives its name from the lemon groves established by French plantation owners fleeing the 1791 slave rebellion in Haiti. This typical Cuban town owes its existence to the production of sugarcane, as do many small towns in Matanzas and the central provinces.

Why Limonar and not Havana?

Havana is a critically important context, but an anomaly in Cuba and in the Caribbean, presenting a unique set of challenges which come with any

metropolis. Too often, Havana becomes a stand-in for Cuba as a whole.

Limonar, then, is more emblematic of the challenges Cuba in terms of size at 25,000 population, its location slightly inland, but most importantly in terms of its narrative. Once covered in hardwood tropical forest harvested for Spanish ships, then sown in sugarcane, with road and rail networks stretched out to meet it, how might we recast Limonar to become a productive landscape of a very different sort?

23

Northern Matanzas province, 2016.

24

Map of Royal Forest Reserves, Matanzas, ca. 1792.

25

Railroads and ingenios in the area of Matanzas and Cardenas, 1846.

26

Boiler house of the Santa Rosa ingenio, Matanzas province, typical of its era. Lithograph by Eduardo Laplante, 1857.

27

Historic postcard of Hershey sugar mill and plantation ca. 1925 (undated).

28

Hershey sugar mill, 2015.

29

“The planning profession has remained essentially reactive toward urban agriculture, and control-oriented approaches have prevailed.”

“There are virtually no built examples of proposals from planners, urban designers, or architects in which urban agriculture forms part of a landscape strategy. There have been no proposals promoting synergies with other components of the urban fabric in more than two decades of urban agriculture development” “Design has the opportunity to become the primary tool for integrating the food-related and spatial demands of a new urban scenario, currently only in its nascent stage.”

- Jorge Diaz Peña, architect and planner “Inserting urban agriculture into the management system is not a task to be worked out on a drawing board. It depends, to a great extent, on the interrelation among planners and doers, the community, and governments.”

- Maria Caridad Cruz, permaculturist and planner

Create a framework where people may realize their full potential as part of a broader design community.

What follows is a series of imagined dialogues between possible actors, most real with a few imagined. In this specific case, Limonar is primarily populated with those who have helped reshape the landscape around food; it becomes a moment where an agroecologist might become the lead designers in the remaking of a town.

This intervention is an attempt to put flesh on the earlier matrix (Figs. 13-14) and the proto-organizational chart (Fig.15), in order to further personify the bits and pieces that truly make models succeed or fail - people.

30

We’ll have some wonderful agronomists at your disposal.Within a few years, Cuba’s sugarcane production will be the envy of the Caribbean.

Timeline-section

Nikita Khruschev and Fidel Castro, 1962

LIMONAR

MATANZAS

VARADERO

Sin problema, hermano.

We appreciate the help.

Spacibo, comrade.

Por adelante!

Don’t look back.

The success of the Revolution is production.

Fidel Castro visits a Cuban state agronomy school, 1967 31

1.00. PRELUDIO - ELENCO DE PERSONAJES PRELUDE - THE CAST OF CHARACTERS After the Special Period, it was a matter of urgency. Since we were importing more than 80% of food consumed by Cubans. We had to begin to produce our own food.

In Milwaukee and now Chicago, I’ve seen firsthand how organic urban agriculture can not only make a difference with food sovereignty, but in people’s lives.

After the collapse of sugar, then what?

We did this through organic farming practices.

When you see someone put their hands in that soil, you see the change in their eyes... and their attitude towards food.

The goal is not to produce the most of a single crop for export, relying on industrial inputs (petrochemical-based fertilizers and pesticides) and agricultural methods, but to use symbiotic and biodiverse mixtures of crops with readily available inputs (compost, beneficial insects as pest defenses) and time-tested methods (crop rotation, interplanting).

I wish I could say we could feed all of Cuba this way, but what we can say is that we have improved the diet of Cubans.

The use of chemicals is inevitable. The chemists are going to return. But what we have to know is to what extent, use as little as possible, and continue to focus on organic agriculture.

Miguel Salcines, Organoponico Vivaro Alamar 32

Agroecology is as revolutionary as the Revolution, but totally different in ethos.

This brings the production of food closer to the scale of the individual and out of the hands of corporations.

Will Allen, urban farmer, Growing Power (USA)

Fernando Funes-Monzote, agronomist, Finca Marta

In southeast Cuba, Dalhousie University partnered not only with CITMA for coastal zone management issues, but with INIFAT as well to study practices further inland, as agricultural practices also affect the coast.

This relationship is further institutionalized at the local and regional levels by working with University of Oriente.

I’m a little skeptical.

But, we’ve seen great successes in the shift away from industrial agriculture during the Special Period.

So... we’ll see.

This is not the way we would’ve done it 10 or even 5 years ago, but since we have the capacity to partner internally between ministries, this local pilot project has the potential to influence the approach taken at the national level, but based on research in very specific places in Cuba.

So, this is why we’re trying it in Matanzas province.

So, we’re excited to see what new things they will be trying in Limonar.

Aldo Chircop, Marine Affairs Program Marine & Environmental Law Institute, Dalhousie University

An integrated approach is critical.

Juan Soles, agronomist, Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG)

Omar Cantillo Ferreiro, environmental engineer Minstry of Environment (CITMA) 33

When we first heard about Limonar, we were totally up for the challenge. Normally, we are focused on Havana, so a very urbanized area, but this was an exciting moment to rethink what urban and landscape could mean.

Orlando Inclàn, architect, habana[re]generación 34

I’ve worked now with Claudia for a year during the planning stages. I’ll be interested to see how things happen.

As an architect in Cuba, landscape is not often in our purview because landscape architecture is not a discipline in the university.

Normally, monitoring and evaluations are very straightforward: you meet the regulation, or you don’t. This has been an oppotunity to test new things. It has potential to influence policy, which does not normally happen.

But, Limonar presents some fascinating questions.

Is this: The urbanization of a rural area by living systems?

The ruralization of an urban area by living systems?

Marta Abreu, Chief Inspector CITMA, Matanzas municipal

Claudia Castillo, architect, habana[re]generación eración

1.01. EL ESCENARIO THE STAGE

1

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

But the land is resisting, and with it, the people of Cuba.

dialogues that never existed, such as in the case of the sugar mill - once the raison d’ etre for the town - the landscape rises to (re)connect the unused shed with the baseball field, linking two things that had no business being linked previously.

A continuous band weaves through the town of Limonar, Cuba.

Sometimes, it rises to offer a vantage point. Sometimes, it falls to hold water during hurricane season, letting it run towards its new purpose - nourishing the places where vegetables and fruits grow, no longer relegated to the ‘edges’ of town. Sometimes the band links the spaces between buildings. Sometimes, it even ‘invades’ the buildings themselves, bringing them back into dialogue with each other, or inducing

But, most importantly, the band brings people into dialogue with each other and the land. Rather than a site/sites of extraction and exploitation, the landscape has become become a framework for production of a different kind and on a different scale. Moments, instances, excuses to linger in places that were never places become the norm, a framework for dialogues of various kinds, within a new regime: a community of design.

First came sugar, then came the town.

Sugar became a tool used to divide the land, and its people.

35

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1.01.1: Aerial view, Limonar.

1.01.2: Strategic plan sketch 37

5

6

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1 7

3 4 7

1.01.3: Strategic plan sketch.

38

‘The Bow’

Calle Real (‘The Arrow’)

1.01.6: Axonometric sketch from southeast showing the curved street of ‘The Bow’ and the axis of Royal Street / Calle Real (‘The Arrow’).

1.01.5: Aerial perspective from northwest.

39

1.1. ENTRADA ENTRY

1.1.1: Existing view of entry from southwest.

40

I didn’t expect it to be this mature so quickly.

We have to make sure mosquitoes aren’t a problem.

There is the Zika virus now.

You have the certification?

MINAG. But have them call me when it it’s in.

I’ll make sure it gets through.

Rainy season. They get more here inland.

Dragonflies and damselflies patrol from the air. In the water, insects such as copepods and water beetles, amphibians like native toads, and fish such as guppies keep things under control. We also have a small recirculating pump in case we need to get the water moving.

Next week, the monitor from University of Havana finishes the evaluation. Then it goes to...

JUNE

1.1.2: View of entry from southwest, rendering.

41

1.2. TIENDA DE DIVISAS CURRENCY EXCHANGE

1.2.1: Existing view of currency exchange from south.

42

The currency exchange is now fronted by a space for more open and undefined exchange. Taking inspiration from open, public spaces such as Chicago’s boulevards (Figs. 1.2.3, 1.2.4) and New Orleans’ ‘neutral grounds’ (Fig. 1.2.7), this unactivated space gains new possibility.

1.2.3 Chess on Chicago’s Southside 1.2.4 Community meeting at table built in in median along a boulvard in Chicago 1.2.5 Playing petanque on a median in Dijibouti 1.2.6 Picnicing along a highway in Mexico City 1.2.7 Community picnic along one of New Orlean’s ‘neutral ground’

2.2 1.2.3

1.2.4 2.3

1.2.5 2.4

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

1.2.2: View of currency exchange from south.

1.2.6 2.5

1.2.7 2.6 43

1.3. IGLESIA PARROQUIA PARISH CHURCH

1.3.1: Existing view of parish church from north.

44

This was already a well-landscaped area, but a little lazy... it was producing nothing to eat or sell!

With the addition of trellises, we provided shade for trailing plants such as peas and cucumbers and even crops for sale like loofah.

The point was not production in high volume, it was to select a very iconic location and show how could be used differently.

1.3.2: Parish church from north, rendering.

45

1.4. JARDINES DEL PĂ TIO COURTYARD GARDENS

1.4.1: Longitudinal section 1.4A-A through colonial block.

The colonial block typology allows for a dense, compact nearly urban environment even within the relatively small town of Limonar, while allowing for a modest percentage - 20 to over 40% - of open space. Mature trees tend to be clustered in courtyards, adding to a stable, shaded microclimate. While land ownership could not be verified, potential exists for gardens for individual use (autoconsumos), crops for sale, and medicinal uses.

46

1.4A-A 1.4A-A

1.4.3-1.4.5: Views of houses along Calle Real.

1.4.6-1.4.8: Views of typical Spanish colonial-era houses.

1.4.2 Plan of typical colonial blocks showing area and percentage of open space.

47

1.4. JARDINES DEL PÁTIO COURTYARD GARDENS ES A

ES

Actors at national, regional, and local levels might play influencing roles, but those on the ground will likely foster the real connections, the truly active any moving parts of any models.

As the landscaped band transitions from ‘The Arrow’ to ‘The Bow’, disciplinary boundaries begin to overlap, bringing agroecologist and architect into dialogue.

1.4.9: Longitudinal section 1.4A-A through colonial block.

48

CE EE

AEA

CE

49

1.5. INGENIO DE AZUCAR REPROGRAMADO ‘REPROGRAMMED’ SUGAR MILL

1.5.1: Section at intersection of ‘Bow’ and ‘Arrow’

50

1.5.2: Section at sugar mill and baseball field, showing new bermed landscape forming bleachers around field.

51

1.5.3: View from sugar mill shed looking east to to baseball field prior to intervention.

52

1.5.4: View from sugar mill shed looking east to to baseball field, after intervention, showing new connection to field, agricultural point of sale and bleacher-berm beyond.

53

Similar to the Currency Exchange, great opportunity exists for reprogramming the industrial sheds of the sugar mill, so central to the town of Limonar, possibly drawing from local artisans (Fig. 1.5.5) and other industries such as stone quarrying (Fig. 1.5.6).

1.5.5: Potter Azariel Alcantar at work. 1.5.6: Workers at nearby Rocosera de Caobas stone quarry.

1.5.7: Reprogramming-adaptation-reuse of space for temporal events.

1.5.8: Monumental sculpture-casting factory in Santiago de Cuba, built by Cuban sculptor as inspriration for repurposing of similar sugar mill shed structure.

54

Peak rainfall in Limonar occurs in October, during the June to December hurricane season, which misses the November to April baseball season (opposite the April to September season in the PEA K States R AI N FALL United (Fig. 1.5.9). Might there be a better seasonal use for 26,000 sf (.6 acres) of lawn grass struggling during the summer heat (Figs 1.5.10-12)?

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1.5.9: Peak rainfall in Limonar

1.5.11 R A I N FA LL ( i n mm) JUNE AY

Month

Matanzas Limonar

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

01.0 03.3 04.1 05.6 09.9 24.6 23.5 48.9 28.6 44.3 16.4 06.7

1.5.12 AUGUST

26.8 20.9 41.3 38.4 104.9 43.6 43.9 80.77 122.6 135.8 75.7 23.1

55

1.6. CAMPO DE SUEÑOS FIELD OF DREAMS

1.6.1: Edible lawn, a mix of small, easily harvested food crops, requiring fewer inputs (fertilizer, water) than standard lawn grass.

56

...and in the off-season, you harvest this ‘edible lawn’?

How did people accept it?

And production levels?

Absolutely!

We go straight to El Caney next door and use it for community picnics. Or take it to the Punta de Venta.

It was unexpected to many people at first. In other countries, you would never do this because of the pesticides, of course, pero en Cuba...

Respectable.

Enough for $4,500 in monthly sales, 75% of that to tourism.

There are 60 towns in Cuba with a population over 20,000 - that’s 183 urban acres (75 hectares).

But the real point is to challenge how - and where people think food can be produced.

1.6.0 BASEBALL OUTFIELD CESPED (GRASS) CLOVER MINT LETTUCE ARUGULA CARROT DILL

1.6.2: View from pitcher’s mound west towards sugar mill sheds, after intervention.

57

1.7. RECOLONIZACIÓN AGRÍCOLA AGRICULTURAL RECOLONIZATION At the edges of town and fields, dialogues in - and on - the land become the most transformative.

A recolonization is occurring, a reconception of what landscapes of production can mean, where design has become the convening force.

the citrus grove (1.7.A-D), but rather than in the service of a single crop - sugar - agroecological principles such as intercropping, crop rotation, nutrient-banking and composting are deployed, not at the scale of the circumference of the pivot irrigator or the span of the combine tractor, but at the scale of the courtyard gardens.

‘Redevelopment’ or recolonization marches northward and eastward from

The measure of land becomes that, once again, of the human reach.

1.7.A: View of citrus grove and agricultural fields, before intervention.

58

So, Miguel, what’s new here?

Livestock?

Like a holiday for pigs?

The luckier worms are over in vermicomposting!

1.7.0 GROVE CHICKEN GRAZER PIGS TILLER TURKEY GRAZER

Citrus trees were planted at the edge of town in the ‘90’s. A disease hit Cuba in the 2000’s. Some have survived, but their days are numbered, so we decided to try introducing small livestock grazing in the understory as we start new fruit and hardwood trees to replace the citrus.

A few locals owned pigs, so we decided to try them to till the soil under the citrus trees for a short time.

Haha! I guess so. They tear up young trees, so we have to protect the saplings in tubes. Fowl is ok, though, for natural pest control.

CITRUS FRUIT AVOCADO FRUIT PLANTAIN FRUIT SABICÚ HARDWOOD

1.7.B: View of citrus grove and agricultural fields, before intervention.

59

1.7.0 GROVE CITRUS FRUIT CROP AVOCADO FRUIT CROP PLANTAIN FRUIT CROP SABICÚ HARDWOOD MAHOGANY HARDWOOD OAK HARDWOOD

1.7.C: View of citrus grove and agricultural fields, after Phase 1 intervention.

60

1.7.1A AG RECOLONIZATION (PH. 1A) CORN/MAIZE VEGETABLE CROP CASSAVA VEGETABLE CROP PUMPKIN VEGETABLE CROP TARO VEGETABLE CROP BONIATO (SWEET POTATO) VEGETABLE CROP COWPEA VEGETABLE (FALL)

1.7.1B AG RECOLONIZATION (PH. 1B) CLOVER GREEN MANURE ALFALFA GREEN MANURE, COVER CROP ARUGULA VEGETABLE CROP CARROT VEGETABLE CROP LETTUCE VEGETABLE CROP MINT, SPINACH, CHARD, KALE, TURNIP, DILL

This place used to be visted only by the Minstry of Sugar. We’ll need to get Ministry of Forestry out here now.

1.7.0 GROVE 1.7.1A AG RECOLONIZATION (PH. 1A) AVOCADO FRUIT CROP AVOCADO FRUIT PLANTAIN FRUIT CROP PLANTAIN FRUIT SABICÚ HARDWOOD SABICÚ HARDWOOD MAHOGANY HARDWOOD OAK HARDWOOD

1.7.1B AG RECOLONIZATION (PH. 1B) CORN/MAIZE VEGETABLE CROP CASSAVA VEGETABLE CROP PUMPKIN VEGETABLE CROP TARO VEGETABLE CROP BONIATO (SWEET POTATO) VEGETABLE CROP COWPEA VEGETABLE (FALL)

1.7.2A,B AG RECOLONIZATION (PH. 2A, 2B) CLOVER GREEN MANURE ALFALFA GREEN MANURE, COVER CROP ARUGULA VEGETABLE CROP CARROT VEGETABLE CROP LETTUCE VEGETABLE CROP MINT, SPINACH, CHARD, KALE, TURNIP

1.7.D: View of citrus grove and agricultural fields, after Phase 2 intervention.

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62

INTERVENCIÓN 2: MATANZAS HOSPEDAR LA GOTA DE AGUA HOSTING THE RAINDROP

63

Map of Cuba’s networks: topography (gray), roads (white), and railroads (aqua).

64

Matanzas, birthplace of poets and musical and dance forms such as rumba is Cuba’s fifth largest city, seat of the province of the same name lies 90 miles south of Key West.

The city lies around the Bay of Matanzas, and at the confluence of two rivers - the Yumurí and the San Juan, and bounded by a third - the Canímar. Matanzas reveals both its Spanish colonial heritage in the dense urban blocks of Pueblo Viejo, similar to those of Limonar, as well as the post-Haitian slave rebellion French roots of the Versailles neighborhood. Dividing them is the Yumurí, subject

to periodic flooding during hurricane season on the river valley slopes of which much of the older city is built densely, offering little opportunity for the current model of wholesale relocation (see p. 14), especially for temporary uses such as seasonal fishing villages. However, the often overlooked actor is that of rain, left to make its way downward, contributing to flood conditions.

As Limonar was used to push for a reconception of productive landscapes, might the Matanzas intervention simulatneously critique reacomodación, or relocation, and the dismissal of rainwater as waste? Might a dialogue convened by design find new ways to treat the raindrop, and those in its path?

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2.1.0: Orienting section.

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LIMONAR

MATANZAS

VARADERO

2.1. REACOMODACIÓN RELOCATION

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2.1.2: Diagram of threatened fishing villages (red), and coastal protection zones (yellow) as defined by Decree-Law 212: Coastal Zone Management 68

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2.1.3: Enlargement of previous.

an R u J n a

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2.1.4: View west towards mountains with YumurĂ­ River at right.

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2.1.5: Risk analysis sketch of vicinity.

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2.1.6: Flooding of San Juan River, 1930’s.

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2.1.7: Flooding of Yumurí River, 1930’s.

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2.1.8: Flooding of Matanzas, location unspecified, 1930’s.

74

JAN

Peak rainfall P inEA Matanzas (Figs K R A I NFA L L2.1.9), while 40% that of Limonar, falls on a larger, denser city comprised mainly of impervious surfaces.

However, opportunity still exists to think upstream and uphill, holding water before it reaches the rivers

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2..1.9: Peak rainfall in Matanzas

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01.0 03.3 04.1 05.6 09.9 24.6 23.5 48.9 28.6 44.3 16.4 06.7

26.8 20.9 41.3 38.4 104.9 43.6 43.9 80.77 122.6 135.8 75.7 23.1

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2.2. INCLINAR Y SOSTENER INCLINE AND SUSTAIN Though moderately sloped (3.8% average), opportunity still exists to think upstream and uphill, holding water before it reaches the rivers.

2.2.1: West-east section/plan at Calle 73 76

2.2.2-5: Sloped streets and periodic flooding during rain events in Pueblo Viejo, Matanzas

TREE PIT SOIL DE-COMPACTION SOAK PIT FRENCH DRAIN FRENCH DRAIN (CHANNEL) PERVIOUS PATIO PAVING

As in Limonar along Calle Real, Spanish colonial-era blocks in Pueblo Viejo, Matanzas are built densely, but housing typologies and interior block open spaces allow for some block-scale water capture.

2.2.6: Rainwater/stormwater capture strategy, block scale 77

2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3 2.3.4 Fig. 2.3.1: Ravine Pintade relocation/redevelopment, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; 2.3.2: Ravine Pintade community liasons; 2.3.3-4: Impasse Belo ravine relocation/redevelopment, Delmas 40B, Port-au-Prince,

2.3 The resilience of relocation Lessons from Port-au-Prince

Ravine Pintade, a redevelopment project in post-earthquake Haiti (2010-2012), stands as a positive example of relocation through process implemented with the assistance of the humanitarian aid and international development communities.

First, Ravine Pintade (Figs. 2.3.1-2) serves as a counter-model to both coastal retreat, whereby property owners relinquish properties along threatened coasts - always a politically unpopular prospect in countries such as the United States - and the prevailing wholesale relocation approach taken in Cuba by the Institute of Physical Planning (see p. 14).

Second, it corresponds to the teasing out of threads from within the model by connecting local actors in partnership with other national and international actors. In the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake which struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 2010, CHF International and Project Concern International (PCI) and local community partner KATYE identified host families adjacent to the earthquake-affected area, pairing them with residents who faced lost or damaged homes. The goal was to maintain as closely as possible the social and economic ties - friends, family, church, livelihoods, etc. - both to and within the original community 78

Third, the design process appeared to be led by locals. On a visit to the job trailer, Haitian engineers and architects produced technical drawings and three-dimensinoal models which served as the basis for designs and for later (re)negotiation of property boundaries. Project manager Aram Khatchadurian noted that while the level of accuracy presented was a challenge, any errors made were of lesser importance than having reconstruction be led by Haitians (Khatchadurian, 2011).

Fourth, dialogue occurred, quite literally, on the ground: community liaisons (Fig. 2.3.2) negotiated with “residents of Ravine Pintade [who] agreed to redraw their own property lines to accommodate the redesign of access paths and other public spaces for improved access and circulation.� (Embassy of the United States, 2012).

The latter might be seen as a page from the Limonar playbook: put people into convesation on the ground, about the ground.

RESIDENT QUESTIONNAIRE / SURVEY OF HOME Date: __________________ Interviewer name(s): ______________________ , J/P HRO Redevelopment Interviewer name(s): ______________________ , J/P HRO Redevelopment ___

Residence location no. (see diagram at right): _________________

Interviewee name: ___________________________ Cell: _____________ Owner? Y N

Head of household? Y N

Owner: ___________________________________ Cell: ______________ A. Questions for resident: 1. What are the terms of the rental agreement? a. Start date: b. End date: c. Cost: ___________ USD Gdes Haitian dollars 2. How many rooms are being rented? _______ 3.

B. Interviewer(s) to verify – circle appropriate term or write in: 1. Construction type: ○ walls: wood-­‐framed concrete block reinforcement: unacceptable acceptable (MTPTC) ○ roof: wood-­‐framed/metal reinf. conc.

2. Quality of finishes, exterior: crepissaged (plastered) painted 3. Quality of finishes, interior: crepissaged (plastered) painted 4. Quality of openings: wood metal other: 5. Open areas:

none shared private 6. Latrine: Y N private shared 7. Lavatory: Y N private shared 8. Shower: Y N private shared 9. Cistern (below-­‐grade): Y N private shared 10. Water storage tank: Y N private shared 11. Potable water access: commercial kiosk other: 12. Describe other amenities (e.g. accessible roof, etc.)

13. Other information:

14. Sketch the plan of the home. Note the areas of rooms.:

2.3.6

2.3.5 Figs. 2.3.5-6: Impasse Belo ravine relocation/redevelopment, Delmas 40B, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; 2.3.6: field notes; 2.2.12: resident questionnaire.

My own professional experience in Haiti with J/P Haitian Relief Organization (J/P HRO) included a potential ravine relocation (Figs. 2.3.3-2.3.6), whereby residents living in ravines were to be relocated in advance of a stabilization project (which was, in fact, subsequently able to be completed without necessitating relocation).

Residents lived in various states of formality and vulnerability, ranging from a family at the flood-stage who would apparently vacate their home1 (Fig. 2.3.3) in anticipation of flooding to stay with extended family, to a 25-year resident well above the water line who had made numerous improvements (Fig. 2.3.4), including a riverwall, allowing him to safely raise three generations in his home.

If given the opportunity to redesign the resident questionnaire (Fig. 2.3.6), in light of the lessons of Ravine Pintade and looking forward to those vulnerable properties in Matanzas along the Yumurí River, what additonal information would be needed to anticipate future connections?

How might the model of relocation change?

Note 1: ravines in this area of Port-au-Prince were state-owned land, but provisions had been made such that squatter’s rights were taken into account, allowing residents over 20 years to have reasonable expectation of lend tenure rights, further complicating relocations in designated at-risk areas.

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2.4. CONEXIĂ“NES NUEVAS NEW CONNECTIONS Ravine Pintade, Port-au-Prince (pp. 78-9) set forth a methodology which resonates with the Limonar intervention: connecting local actors with those - designers and non-designers at other levels, allowing for mobility and scalability, and contribution on a stage broader than the local through in-situ, on-theground dialogues convened within a framework of design.

2.4.1: Relocation reconceived as connecting, first: a database of potential host-sites (preferably within a 1-mile radius) is created and matched to residents and business owners in at-risk areas.

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These aren’t relocations like IPF has been doing outside Havana.

These aren’t relocations. This is matchmaking.

We are linking people in at-risk urban areas with host families so that there are places they can go during periodic flooding.

But eventually, they will have to move.

That’s why I’m on the local Junta de Acción: I’m a resident, so I have a vested interest. This is different than the top-down we’re used to.

It’s more proactive.

Until adequate funding sources and long-term planning can occur, we have to build the local networks to facilitate such a strategy.

2.4.2: Rethinking relocation.

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Cuentapropista categories 1. Accountant/Tax Preparation 2. Animal Caretaker 3. Animal Groomer 4. Animal Rental 5. Animal Trainer 6. Antique Dealer 7. Art Restorer 8. Artificial Flowers Seller 9. Artisan (arts and crafts maker) 10. Audio Systems Installer/Operator 11. Automobile Battery Repair 12. Automobile Electrician 13. Babysitter/Nanny 14. Barber 15. Bedframe Repair 16. Benny Moré Dance Team 17. Bicycle Repair 18. Blacksmith/Seller of Horseshoes and Nails 19. Book Binding 20. Breeder/Seller of Pets 21. Builder/Seller/Installer of Radio and TV Antennas 22. Building Construction Services 23. Building Superintendent 24. Bus Driver 25. Bus/Train/Taxi Stop Barker (calls out instructions to waiting passengers) 26. Button Coverer (wraps buttons in cloth, popular in the 50’s and 60’s) 27. Buyer and Seller of Records (including CDs) 28. Café Owner (cafetería) 29. Café Owner (cafeteria, light snacks and beverages) 30. Car Body Remolding 31. Car Painter 32. Car washer/Oil Changer 33. Caretaker of Elderly/Handicapped 34. Caricaturists 35. Carpenter 36. Cart Operator 37. Charcoal Manufacturer/Seller 38. Children’s Ride Operator 39. Cleaning/Household Help 40. Clothes Washing/Ironing 41. Collector and Payer of Bills 42. Collector/Seller of Natural Resources (ie sell shells) 43. Collector/Seller of Recyclables 44. Computer Programmer 45. Construction Laborer 46. Contracted Employee of a Self-Employed 47. Costume Jewelry Repair 48. Craftsman/Seller/Repairman of Wicker Furniture 49. Dance Duo “Amor” (traditional Cuban dances) 50. Dandy (man dressed in Colonial garb) 51. Decorator

52. Disposable Lighter Repair and Refill 53. Document Translator 54. Doll and Toy Repair 55. Driving Instructor 56. Electric Motor Rewiring 57. Electrician 58. Electronic Equipment Repair 59. Embroiderer/Knitter 60. Engraver of Numbers 61. Event Planner (weddings, etc) 62. Extras (people in period dress) 63. Eyeglass Repair 64. Fence and Walkway Repair 65. Floor Polisher 66. Flower Bed Arranger 67. Flower Wreath Arranger 68. Folkloric Dancers 69. Food Retailer (in kiosks and farmers’ markets) 70. Food Wholesaler 71. Formal Wear Rental 72. Fortune Tellers 73. Fresh Fruit Peeler 74. Furniture Painter and Polisher 75. Furniture Repairman 76. Gardener 77. Grower/Seller of Ornamental Plants 78. Grower/Seller of Plants for Animal Feed and Medicinal Purposes 79. Habaneras (women posing in colorful colonial attire) 80. Hair Braider 81. Hairdresser 82. Handcar Operator (on rails) 83. Horse and Carriage Rides 84. Horse-Drawn Carriage Operator 85. House Painter 86. Insurance Agent 87. Iron Worker (grating for doors, windows) 88. Jeep Driver 89. Jewelry Repair 90. Knife Grinder 91. Leather Craftsman 92. Leather Repair 93. Leather Tanner (except cows and horses) 94. Locksmith 95. Machinist 96. Maker of Yokes, Harnesses and Rope for Oxen 97. Maker/Seller of Aluminum Products 98. Maker/Seller of Food and Beverages in “China Town” 99. Maker/Seller of Marble Objects 100. Maker/Seller of Non-Ferrous Metals 101. Maker/Seller of Soaps, Dyes 102. Make-up Artist 103. Mambises-style Musical Groups (traditional Cuban music) 104. Manicurist

105. Mason 106. Masseuse 107. Mattress Repair 108. Mechanical and Combustion Equipment Repair 109. Mechanical Saw Operator (as in a sawmill) 110. Messenger 111. Metal Polisher 112. Miller of Grains 113. Mini-Bus Driver 114. Mobile Hand Cart Hawker of Agricultural Products 115. Motorcycle Driver 116. Mule Driver 117. Music/Art Instructor 118. Musical Duo “Los Amigos” (popular music) 119. Musical Instrument Tuning and Repair 120. Night Watchman or Building Doorman 121. Non-Alcoholic Beverage Seller (home delivery) 122. Office Equipment Repair 123. Operator of Children’s Fun Wagon Pulled by Pony or Goat 124. Ornamental Fish Farmer 125. Painters (who sell pictures in the street) 126. Palm Tree Trimmer 127. Parking Attendant (including for cars, bicycles) 128. Part-time Farm Laborer 129. Party Entertainer (clowns, magicians) 130. Passenger Boat Operator 131. Pedal Taxi Driver 132. Photographer 133. Piñata Maker/Seller 134. Plasterer 135. Plastic Covering Maker for IDs 136. Plumber 137. Postal Agent 138. Private Construction Contractor (in the Havana “Old Town”) 139. Producer/Seller of Articles and Animals for Religious Use 140. Producer/Seller of Bricks and Tiles 141. Producer/Seller of Brooms and Brushes 142. Producer/Seller of Clay Goods (pots, planters, cookware) 143. Producer/Seller of Costume Jewelry 144. Producer/Seller of Harnesses, Blankets, and Saddles 145. Producer/Seller of Items Used in the Home (self-made or made by other self-employed) 146. Producer/Seller of Plaster Figurines 147. Producer/Seller of Rubber Accessories 148. Public Bathroom Attendant 149. Public Park Caretaker 150. Real Estate Broker 151. Refrigerator Mechanic 152. Repair of Measurement Instruments 153. Repairer of Water Pumps 154. Restaurant Owner (paladares) 155. Roaster (ie of peanuts, coffee)

156. Roofer 157. Room/Home Rental 158. Saddle and Harness Repair 159. Seamstress/Tailor 160. Septic Tank Repairman and Cleaner 161. Sewing Machine Repair 162. Shearer (as in sheep) 163. Shining Shoes 164. Shoe Repair 165. Shoemaker/Shoe Salesman 166. Shorthand, Typing, and Language Instructor 167. Sign Painter 168. Small Household Goods Repair 169. Small-Truck Driver 170. Space Rentals in One’s Home to Self-employed 171. Spark Plug Cleaner and Tester 172. Sports Trainer (except martial arts and diving) 173. Station Wagon Driver 174. Stove/Range Repair 175. Street-based Seller of Food and Beverages 176. Taxi Driver 177. Telecommunications Agent (retail) 178. Textile Dyer 179. Three-Wheeled Pedal Taxi Driver 180. Thresher 181. Tire Repair 182. Trader of Scrap Metals 183. Traditional Barber 184. Trained Dog Exhibitor 185. Truck Driver 186. Tutor (currently employed teachers not eligible) 187. Typist and Copier 188. Umbrella and Parasol Repair 189. Upholsterer 190. Used Book Seller 191. Vegetable/Fruit Street Vendor (from fixed venues) 192. Wagon or Pushcart Operator (to help move things) 193. Watch Repair 194. Water Delivery 195. Welder 196. Welder 197. Welder/Flamecutter (cutting with gas) 198. Well Digger 199. Window Glass Repair 200. Wine Maker/Seller 201. Woodsmen/Logger

INTERVENCIÓN 3: POLICY UNA SILLA EN LA MESA A SEAT AT THE TABLE

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Cuentapropista categories 1. Accountant/Tax Preparation 2. Animal Caretaker 3. Animal Groomer 4. Animal Rental 5. Animal Trainer 6. Antique Dealer 7. Art Restorer 8. Artificial Flowers Seller 9. Artisan (arts and crafts maker) 10. Audio Systems Installer/Operator 11. Automobile Battery Repair 12. Automobile Electrician 13. Babysitter/Nanny 14. Barber 15. Bedframe Repair 16. Benny Moré Dance Team 17. Bicycle Repair 18. Blacksmith/Seller of Horseshoes and Nails 19. Book Binding 20. Breeder/Seller of Pets 21. Builder/Seller/Installer of Radio and TV Antennas 22. Building Construction Services 23. Building Superintendent 24. Bus Driver 25. Bus/Train/Taxi Stop Barker (calls out instructions to waiting passengers) 26. Button Coverer (wraps buttons in cloth, popular in the 50’s and 60’s) 27. Buyer and Seller of Records (including CDs) 28. Café Owner (cafetería) 29. Café Owner (cafeteria, light snacks and beverages) 30. Car Body Remolding 31. Car Painter 32. Car washer/Oil Changer 33. Caretaker of Elderly/Handicapped 34. Caricaturists 35. Carpenter 36. Cart Operator 37. Charcoal Manufacturer/Seller 38. Children’s Ride Operator 39. Cleaning/Household Help 40. Clothes Washing/Ironing 41. Collector and Payer of Bills 42. Collector/Seller of Natural Resources (ie sell shells) 43. Collector/Seller of Recyclables 44. Computer Programmer 45. Construction Laborer 46. Contracted Employee of a Self-Employed 47. Costume Jewelry Repair 48. Craftsman/Seller/Repairman of Wicker Furniture 49. Dance Duo “Amor” (traditional Cuban dances) 50. Dandy (man dressed in Colonial garb) 51. Decorator

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52. Disposable Lighter Repair and Refill 53. Document Translator 54. Doll and Toy Repair 55. Driving Instructor 56. Electric Motor Rewiring 57. Electrician 58. Electronic Equipment Repair 59. Embroiderer/Knitter 60. Engraver of Numbers 61. Event Planner (weddings, etc) 62. Extras (people in period dress) 63. Eyeglass Repair 64. Fence and Walkway Repair 65. Floor Polisher 66. Flower Bed Arranger 67. Flower Wreath Arranger 68. Folkloric Dancers 69. Food Retailer (in kiosks and farmers’ markets) 70. Food Wholesaler 71. Formal Wear Rental 72. Fortune Tellers 73. Fresh Fruit Peeler 74. Furniture Painter and Polisher 75. Furniture Repairman 76. Gardener 77. Grower/Seller of Ornamental Plants 78. Grower/Seller of Plants for Animal Feed and Medicinal Purposes 79. Habaneras (women posing in colorful colonial attire) 80. Hair Braider 81. Hairdresser 82. Handcar Operator (on rails) 83. Horse and Carriage Rides 84. Horse-Drawn Carriage Operator 85. House Painter 86. Insurance Agent 87. Iron Worker (grating for doors, windows) 88. Jeep Driver 89. Jewelry Repair 90. Knife Grinder 91. Leather Craftsman 92. Leather Repair 93. Leather Tanner (except cows and horses) 94. Locksmith 95. Machinist 96. Maker of Yokes, Harnesses and Rope for Oxen 97. Maker/Seller of Aluminum Products 98. Maker/Seller of Food and Beverages in “China Town” 99. Maker/Seller of Marble Objects 100. Maker/Seller of Non-Ferrous Metals 101. Maker/Seller of Soaps, Dyes 102. Make-up Artist 103. Mambises-style Musical Groups (traditional Cuban music) 104. Manicurist

105. Mason 106. Masseuse 107. Mattress Repair 108. Mechanical and Combustion Equipment Repair 109. Mechanical Saw Operator (as in a sawmill) 110. Messenger 111. Metal Polisher 112. Miller of Grains 113. Mini-Bus Driver 114. Mobile Hand Cart Hawker of Agricultural Products 115. Motorcycle Driver 116. Mule Driver 117. Music/Art Instructor 118. Musical Duo “Los Amigos” (popular music) 119. Musical Instrument Tuning and Repair 120. Night Watchman or Building Doorman 121. Non-Alcoholic Beverage Seller (home delivery) 122. Office Equipment Repair 123. Operator of Children’s Fun Wagon Pulled by Pony or Goat 124. Ornamental Fish Farmer 125. Painters (who sell pictures in the street) 126. Palm Tree Trimmer 127. Parking Attendant (including for cars, bicycles) 128. Part-time Farm Laborer 129. Party Entertainer (clowns, magicians) 130. Passenger Boat Operator 131. Pedal Taxi Driver 132. Photographer 133. Piñata Maker/Seller 134. Plasterer 135. Plastic Covering Maker for IDs 136. Plumber 137. Postal Agent 138. Private Construction Contractor (in the Havana “Old Town”) 139. Producer/Seller of Articles and Animals for Religious Use 140. Producer/Seller of Bricks and Tiles 141. Producer/Seller of Brooms and Brushes 142. Producer/Seller of Clay Goods (pots, planters, cookware) 143. Producer/Seller of Costume Jewelry 144. Producer/Seller of Harnesses, Blankets, and Saddles 145. Producer/Seller of Items Used in the Home (self-made or made by other self-employed) 146. Producer/Seller of Plaster Figurines 147. Producer/Seller of Rubber Accessories 148. Public Bathroom Attendant 149. Public Park Caretaker 150. Real Estate Broker 151. Refrigerator Mechanic 152. Repair of Measurement Instruments 153. Repairer of Water Pumps 154. Restaurant Owner (paladares) 155. Roaster (ie of peanuts, coffee)

156. Roofer 157. Room/Home Rental 158. Saddle and Harness Repair 159. Seamstress/Tailor 160. Septic Tank Repairman and Cleaner 161. Sewing Machine Repair 162. Shearer (as in sheep) 163. Shining Shoes 164. Shoe Repair 165. Shoemaker/Shoe Salesman 166. Shorthand, Typing, and Language Instructor 167. Sign Painter 168. Small Household Goods Repair 169. Small-Truck Driver 170. Space Rentals in One’s Home to Self-employed 171. Spark Plug Cleaner and Tester 172. Sports Trainer (except martial arts and diving) 173. Station Wagon Driver 174. Stove/Range Repair 175. Street-based Seller of Food and Beverages 176. Taxi Driver 177. Telecommunications Agent (retail) 178. Textile Dyer 179. Three-Wheeled Pedal Taxi Driver 180. Thresher 181. Tire Repair 182. Trader of Scrap Metals 183. Traditional Barber 184. Trained Dog Exhibitor 185. Truck Driver 186. Tutor (currently employed teachers not eligible) 187. Typist and Copier 188. Umbrella and Parasol Repair 189. Upholsterer 190. Used Book Seller 191. Vegetable/Fruit Street Vendor (from fixed venues) 192. Wagon or Pushcart Operator (to help move things) 193. Watch Repair 194. Water Delivery 195. Welder 196. Welder 197. Welder/Flamecutter (cutting with gas) 198. Well Digger 199. Window Glass Repair 200. Wine Maker/Seller 201. Woodsmen/Logger

3.1.1: Offical list of legal independent business operators (cuentapropistas)

Cuentapropista categories 1. Accountant/Tax Preparation 2. Animal Caretaker 3. Animal Groomer 4. Animal Rental 5. Animal Trainer 6. Antique Dealer _. Architect 7. Art Restorer 8. Artificial Flowers Seller 9. Artisan (arts and crafts maker) 10. Audio Systems Installer/Operator 11. Automobile Battery Repair 12. Automobile Electrician 13. Babysitter/Nanny 14. Barber 15. Bedframe Repair 16. Benny Moré Dance Team 17. Bicycle Repair 18. Blacksmith/Seller of Horseshoes and Nails 19. Book Binding 20. Breeder/Seller of Pets 21. Builder/Seller/Installer of Radio and TV Antennas 22. Building Construction Services 23. Building Superintendent 24. Bus Driver 25. Bus/Train/Taxi Stop Barker (calls out instructions to waiting passengers) 26. Button Coverer (wraps buttons in cloth, popular in the 50’s and 60’s) 27. Buyer and Seller of Records (including CDs) 28. Café Owner (cafetería) 29. Café Owner (cafeteria, light snacks and beverages) 30. Car Body Remolding 31. Car Painter 32. Car washer/Oil Changer 33. Caretaker of Elderly/Handicapped 34. Caricaturists 35. Carpenter 36. Cart Operator 37. Charcoal Manufacturer/Seller 38. Children’s Ride Operator 39. Cleaning/Household Help 40. Clothes Washing/Ironing 41. Collector and Payer of Bills 42. Collector/Seller of Natural Resources (ie sell shells) 43. Collector/Seller of Recyclables 44. Computer Programmer 45. Construction Laborer 46. Contracted Employee of a Self-Employed 47. Costume Jewelry Repair 48. Craftsman/Seller/Repairman of Wicker Furniture 49. Dance Duo “Amor” (traditional Cuban dances) 50. Dandy (man dressed in Colonial garb)

51. Decorator 52. Disposable Lighter Repair and Refill 53. Document Translator 54. Doll and Toy Repair 55. Driving Instructor 56. Electric Motor Rewiring 57. Electrician 58. Electronic Equipment Repair 59. Embroiderer/Knitter 60. Engraver of Numbers 61. Event Planner (weddings, etc) 62. Extras (people in period dress) 63. Eyeglass Repair 64. Fence and Walkway Repair 65. Floor Polisher 66. Flower Bed Arranger 67. Flower Wreath Arranger 68. Folkloric Dancers 69. Food Retailer (in kiosks and farmers’ markets) 70. Food Wholesaler 71. Formal Wear Rental 72. Fortune Tellers 73. Fresh Fruit Peeler 74. Furniture Painter and Polisher 75. Furniture Repairman 76. Gardener 77. Grower/Seller of Ornamental Plants 78. Grower/Seller of Plants for Animal Feed and Medicinal Purposes 79. Habaneras (women posing in colorful colonial attire) 80. Hair Braider 81. Hairdresser 82. Handcar Operator (on rails) 83. Horse and Carriage Rides 84. Horse-Drawn Carriage Operator 85. House Painter 86. Insurance Agent 87. Iron Worker (grating for doors, windows) 88. Jeep Driver 89. Jewelry Repair 90. Knife Grinder 91. Leather Craftsman 92. Leather Repair 93. Leather Tanner (except cows and horses) 94. Locksmith 95. Machinist 96. Maker of Yokes, Harnesses and Rope for Oxen 97. Maker/Seller of Aluminum Products 98. Maker/Seller of Food and Beverages in “China Town” 99. Maker/Seller of Marble Objects 100. Maker/Seller of Non-Ferrous Metals 101. Maker/Seller of Soaps, Dyes 102. Make-up Artist 103. Mambises-style Musical Groups (traditional Cuban music)

154. Restaurant Owner (paladares) 104. Manicurist 155. Roaster (ie of peanuts, coffee) 105. Mason 156. Roofer 106. Masseuse 157. Room/Home Rental 107. Mattress Repair 158. Saddle and Harness Repair 108. Mechanical and Combustion Equipment Repair ___. Scientist 109. Mechanical Saw Operator (as in a sawmill) 159. Seamstress/Tailor 110. Messenger 160. Septic Tank Repairman and Cleaner 111. Metal Polisher 161. Sewing Machine Repair 112. Miller of Grains 162. Shearer (as in sheep) 113. Mini-Bus Driver 163. Shining Shoes 114. Mobile Hand Cart Hawker of Agricultural Products 164. Shoe Repair 115. Motorcycle Driver 165. Shoemaker/Shoe Salesman 116. Mule Driver 166. Shorthand, Typing, and Language Instructor 117. Music/Art Instructor 167. Sign Painter 118. Musical Duo “Los Amigos” (popular music) 168. Small Household Goods Repair 119. Musical Instrument Tuning and Repair 169. Small-Truck Driver 120. Night Watchman or Building Doorman 170. Space Rentals in One’s Home to Self-employed 121. Non-Alcoholic Beverage Seller (home delivery) 171. Spark Plug Cleaner and Tester 122. Office Equipment Repair 172. Sports Trainer (except martial arts and diving) 123. Operator of Children’s Fun Wagon Pulled by Pony or 173. Station Wagon Driver Goat 174. Stove/Range Repair 124. Ornamental Fish Farmer 175. Street-based Seller of Food and Beverages 125. Painters (who sell pictures in the street) 176. Taxi Driver 126. Palm Tree Trimmer 177. Telecommunications Agent (retail) 127. Parking Attendant (including for cars, bicycles) 178. Textile Dyer 128. Part-time Farm Laborer 179. Three-Wheeled Pedal Taxi Driver 129. Party Entertainer (clowns, magicians) 180. Thresher 130. Passenger Boat Operator 181. Tire Repair 131. Pedal Taxi Driver 182. Trader of Scrap Metals 132. Photographer 183. Traditional Barber 133. Piñata Maker/Seller 184. Trained Dog Exhibitor ___. Planner 185. Truck Driver 134. Plasterer 186. Tutor (currently employed teachers not eligible) 135. Plastic Covering Maker for IDs 187. Typist and Copier 136. Plumber 137. Postal Agent 188. Umbrella and Parasol Repair 189. Upholsterer 138. Private Construction Contractor (in the Havana “Old 190. Used Book Seller Town”) 191. Vegetable/Fruit Street Vendor (from fixed venues) 139. Producer/Seller of Articles and Animals for Religious 192. Wagon or Pushcart Operator (to help move things) Use 193. Watch Repair 140. Producer/Seller of Bricks and Tiles 194. Water Delivery 141. Producer/Seller of Brooms and Brushes 142. Producer/Seller of Clay Goods (pots, planters, cookware) 195. Welder 196. Welder 143. Producer/Seller of Costume Jewelry 144. Producer/Seller of Harnesses, Blankets, and Saddles 197. Welder/Flamecutter (cutting with gas) 145. Producer/Seller of Items Used in the Home (self-made or 198. Well Digger 199. Window Glass Repair made by other self-employed) 200. Wine Maker/Seller 146. Producer/Seller of Plaster Figurines 201. Woodsmen/Logger 147. Producer/Seller of Rubber Accessories 148. Public Bathroom Attendant 149. Public Park Caretaker 150. Real Estate Broker 3.1.2: List of legal independent business 151. Refrigerator Mechanic 152. Repair of Measurement Instruments operators, after Limonar and Matanzas 153. Repairer of Water Pumps interventions.

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IMAGE CREDITS

Unless noted below, images are by the author.

Cvr North America DEM: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/global/global.html; Open Street Maps: buildings, landuse, natural features, railways, roads, waterways: http://down load.geofabrik.de/central-america/cuba.html 10 3-5: Medellín EDU 12 6: Ali Karimi 13 7: Ali Karimi 14 8: Mailín Guerrero Ocaña for Granma; 9-10: Mallory Pickett 15 10: Anya Brickman Raredon; 11: Miguel Coyula; 12: Eduardo Luis Rodríguez 19 Gobierno Provincial de Matanzas: comunidad.muchoviaje.com/cs/photos/evitier/images/8275/425x319.aspx; CEDEL: www.desarrollolocalcuba.com/index.php?module=or

ganizer ; Academia de Ciencias: ; CITMA: www.medioambiente.cu/; architect: habana[re]generación; environmental engineer: www.watershedco.com/careers/jobs/environ

mental-planner-1/; agricultural extension agent: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agronomy#/media/File:Cropscientist.jpg; community engagement: www.gsd.harvard.edu/images/con tent/6/3/v2/634293.jpg 21 sugarcane: Rufino Uribe; turf grass: www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=91280&picture=baseball-field-grass-turf 22 same as Cover 23 ibid 24 Google Earth/Digital Globe 25 Archivo General de Indias [Santo Domingo], 638 26 Manuél José Carrera y Heredia, Informe general presetado a la Junta Directiva del ferrocarril de la Sabanilla, con el proyecto de prolongación de su camino hasta Navajas y el plan de

entrocamiento con los ferrocarriles de la Habana y Matanzas [Matanzas: Imprenta de Gobierno y Real Marina, 1846]) 27 Eduardo Laplante 28 PennLive 29 Annie Gibson 31 Left: AFP; right: Getty Images 32 Salcines: Laura Berman; Allen: Carlos Ortiz/Flickr; Funes-Monzote: Fernando Ravsberg 33 Chircop: www.wmu.se/people/aldo-chircop; Soles: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agronomy#/media/File:Cropscientist.jpg; Ferreiro: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEB0ef2dwK4&fea ture=youtu.be 34 Inclán: habana[re]generación; Abreu: ecured; Castillo: habana[re]generación 36 Google Earth/Digital Globe 40 Roly Chino/Google Earth 88

41 Abreu: ecured; Castillo: habana[re]generación 42 1.2.1: Roly Chino/Google Earth 43 1.2.3: Monica Chadha; 1.2.4: Monica Chadha; 1.2.5: Derek Ottens; 1.2.6: www.ect.coop/wp-content/tn3/0/Median-Picnic.jpg 44 1.3.1: Roly Chino/Google Earth 45 Funes-Monzote: Fernando Ravsberg 47 1.4.3-1.4.8: Roly Chino 48 Organizational actors: see p. 19 credits; Funes-Monzote: Fernando Ravsberg; Inclán: habana[re]generación 54 1.5.5: Anya Brickman Raredon; 1.5.6: Cal Kimola Brown; 1.5.8: MIT ACT/ Gediminas Urbonas 55 1.5.9: the author, with the assistance of Matthew Merrill; 1.5.10-1.5.12: Google Earth/Digital Globe 57 Soles: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agronomy#/media/File:Cropscientist.jpg; Funes-Monzote: Fernando Ravsberg 59 Allen: Carlos Ortiz/Flickr; Salcines: Laura Berman; 1.7.0: turkeys: Des Moines Register; pigs: permaculturenews.org/2013/01/24/integrating-livestock-in-the-food-forest/; sabicú: www.nativetreenursery.com/nursery/availability-list.html 60 1.7.0: Joe Roman; 1.7.1A: www.kusamala.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DSCN2018.jpg; 1.7.2A,B: Charlie Nicholson (image modified by author) 61 1.7.0: Joe Roman; 1.7.1A: www.nativetreenursery.com/nursery/availability-list.html; 1.7.1B: www.kusamala.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DSCN2018.jpg; 1.7.2A,B: Charlie

Nicholson (image modified by author) 63 Carlos Acevedo 64 same as Cover 65 ibid 67 Google Earth/Digital Globe 68-9 ibid 70 2.1.4: Carlos Acevedo 71 2.1.5: Google Earth/Digital Globe (base image for sketch) 72 Carlos Acevedo 73-4 ibid 75 2.1.9: the author, with the assistance of Matthew Merrill 76 2.2.1: Google Earth/Digital Globe 77 2.2.2: ani.milan; 2.2.3: Alamy; 2.2.4: cubaweather.org; 2.2.5: jpuma 80 Google Earth/Digital Globe (base image) 81 Google Earth/Digital Globe (base image); dialoguers: IOM 83 havanajournal.com/business/entry/list-of-201-legal-occupations-for-small-business-entrepreneurs-in-cuba/ 84-5 ibid 95 Google Earth/Digital Globe/CNES/Astrium 96 CITMA/Environmental Defense Fund 97 CITMA/Environmental Defense Fund 98 actors: see p. 19; Nelson: Air B n’ B; Inclán: habana[re]generación base photo, building: zhsv/Google Earth 99 base photo, building: zhsv/Google Earth 100 actors: see p. 19; base photo, building: zhsv/Google Earth

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INTERVENCIÓNES POSIBLES: VARADERO BEACH VARADO BEACHED 93

94 LIMONAR

MATANZAS

VARADERO

95

96

97

98

99

EE

AEA EE

100

A

A

CE

ES

AEA EE

AEA EE

A

A

CE

ES

A A(C)

A

A(C)

101

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CUBA FACING FORWARD

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CUBA FACING FORWARD Balancing transition with development in the Caribbean’s most-watched nation Harvard University November 14, 2015 Conference summary February 17, 2016

Cuba Facing Forward: Balancing transition with development in the Caribbean’s most-watched nation The Affordable Housing Institute in collaboration with students from the Harvard Graduate School of Design Compiled and edited by Dave Hampton, Anya Brickman Raredon, Leah Demarest and Elisabeth Leaning Š 2016 Dave Hampton, Anya Brickman Raredon, and The Affordable Housing Institute. Revised February 21, 2016 Cover: the Bay of Santiago de Cuba from Castillo del Morro, 2012.

This event builds on a number of complementary activities on the Harvard campus, and within the Graduate School of Design specifically. The conference directly expanded on themes that were discussed in an evening panel organized by Michael Hooper, Associate Professor of Urban Planning on September 24th, titled The Challenge of Change: The Future of Havana. This previous event brought Cuban filmmakers, architects, and planners to Harvard to begin a conversation on how to preserve the essence of Cuban culture and historic architecture while opening up to increased demands of tourism.

Cuba Facing Forward was also structured to be part of a series of discussions on cities and countries in the middle of dramatic transitions, and it connected to previous work by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, which has an excellent record of engagement with Latin America and Cuba, particularly through the Cuban Studies Program.

With thanks to the sponsors and supporters of Cuba Facing Forward: Brown Rudnick, LLP; re:ground LLC; David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; Distant Horizons; and the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture + Economy. Special thanks to Diane Davis, Michael Hooper, Joseph L. Scarpaci, Harriet Brickman, Tom Raredon, Elsa and Dave Hampton, Sr., and the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Office of Physical Resources and Planning.

Image credits: Cover: Anya Brickman Raredon, Event photos: Ali Karimi, Video stills: Harvard University Media and Technology Services, 4: Ali Karimi, 8: Miguel Coyula, 9: Aynel Alvarez Guerra, 10-11: David Guggenheim/Ocean Doctor, 13: coolescu, 15: Gabriel Fuentes, 17: Howard Banwell, 18: Belmont Freeman, 19: www.a90millas.com, 21: Joseph L. Scarpaci, 24: Tom Haythornthwaite.

For more information, contact: Dave Hampton, regroundllc@gmail.com; Anya Brickman Raredon, araredon@affordablehousinginstitute.org or visit www.cubatransition.org

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

Introduction Cuba Facing Forward: Balancing transition with development in the Caribbean’s most-watched nation was a one-day intensive executive-level symposium that brought together the best, up-to-the-minute, forward-looking thinkers on the changes taking place in Cuba-U.S. relations and how these changes might impact the built and natural environments in Cuba. Speakers included leading professionals, both Cuban and international, in architecture, urban planning, ecology, law, and real estate development. The conference took place on November 14th, 2015 in William James Hall at Harvard University, and was organized by the Affordable Housing Institute, a Boston-based 501c3 focused on housing policy and finance in emerging nations, in collaboration with students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The primary goals of the conference were to: • • •

Create an open, frank, and constructive discourse on Cuba’s future.

Explore the possible effects of transition on Cuba’s built and natural environment, and how to harness the forces of change to improve both.

Foster an ongoing multi-party conversation leading to guiding principles for economic, ecological, and cultural resilience in Cuba.

The main themes discussed were: • • • • • • • • •

The nature of transition: that it is constant, and that moving forward implies paying attention to and understanding - what was before us.

How optimism, confidence, and faith exist side by side with trepidation.

Change, its origins, and what it may bring.

Tendencies toward bilateralism, specifically Cuba and the U.S. at the exclusion of everyone else.

Multidisciplinary approaches, partnerships, and collaboration as a model for growth.

Cuban people as creative, talented, and innate problem solvers.

Opportunities for nacent civil society organizations and local governments.

Ensuring that those facing scarcity do not continue to be marginalized.

Challenging the status quo model of international development and investment.

Cuba Facing Forward was attended by over 80 people, including academics, entrepreneurs, developers, policymakers, students, and decision executives.

Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

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Authors’ Note As thousands of Cubans currently press for transit to the United States from foreign countries – fearing changes in that nation’s amnesty laws – it is with a renewed sense of urgency that we offer this record of events and suggest ways forward.

Our hopes are threefold: first, that this and future content will be accessed by a broad audience – American, Cuban and beyond; second, that Cuba Facing Forward continues to be a catalyst for an open, frank, and constructive discourse on Cuba’s future; and third, that such open dialogue will spark new connections – especially among those with the capacity to act or influence thought and policies – leading to measurable outcomes.

We ask that readers rise to the challenge of moving beyond the polarization of excitement and fear towards a new language of possibility. Furthermore, we call for a re-examination of the model of international development, foreign intervention and speculation, and believe that Cuba has the opportunity to become the exemplar of a new model that is more equitable, inclusive of citizen participation and respectful of the built and natural environments. Optimism and imagination may not only be called for, they may well be the most effective strategies for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development “The question is not, where are we going? The question is how are we going from here to there?”

–Miguel Coyula, Cuba Facing Forward Conference, November 2015

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Themes and takeaways Following the conference, panelists and participants spoke of how they considered themselves fortunate to be included in such an interdisciplinary discussion on the implications of the thawing Cuba-U.S. relations. An emphasis on balance was apparent throughout the event; some panelists stressed the importance of education and bottom-up initiatives from Cubans, while others underscored the importance of carefully managing the development allowed in Cuba and leveraging this opportunity to challenge standard models of growth.

The panelists were unanimous in recognizing that education and bottom-up initiatives will play an important role in ensuring that Cubans hold on to their unique Cuban-ness, but that this should not be done at the expense of positive development that is critically necessary for struggling Cubans. Cubans are deeply frustrated with the extent of scarcity and crisis that have been a reality for generations, and thus Cuba risks losing a skilled labor-force and facing a limited availability of local professionals, despite the widespread availability of good basic education.

The panelists stressed the danger of the narcissistic notion that as the relations between Cuba and the U.S. begin to thaw and more Americans enter the country, they will slam down their money and get their way.

Likewise, the idealist notion of “getting to Cuba before it changes” – commonplace in America today – is not only reckless, but uninformed. Panelists emphasized that Cuba does not exist as a time-warped destination solely for the pleasure of visitors from the North, a concept that promotes a problematic neo-colonialism.

In reality, Europeans, Chinese, and Latin Americans have been trying to invest in Cuba for decades and are consistently frustrated by the layers of Cuban bureaucratic red tape that they must negotiate.

Though the symposium discussions highlighted the likelihood of challenges in developing economic policies that balance the interests of Cubans and of foreigners, it was noted that the discussions were generally upbeat in tone, and only briefly touched on issues such as the current state of misery for most Cubans, the fact that many Cubans want to leave and not want wait for the much-anticipated ‘change’, or challenging questions of compensation for both the Cuban nationalization of U.S. property and Cuban claims of damage that stem from the 55-year old trade embargo. Some issue was also taken with the choice by organizers to use the word ‘transition’ in the framing of the discussion, without a clear definition of what transition was being referenced, since many Cubans balk at the American expectation that a changing relationship between the U.S. and Cuba will also cause significant political change. This was clarified over the course of the day, defining the ‘transition’ as the change in Cuba-U.S. relations, the potential economic changes stemming from that, and the impacts of those changes on the built and natural environment of the island.

Overall, participants were pleased with the interdisciplinary nature of the conference and suggested that it be used as a model approach to future development of the island – one in which sectors interact. While there are many challenges to the new Cuba-U.S. relationship that still need to be addressed, focusing on how knowledge and research flows between Cuba and the U.S. are of vital importance for the countries’ shared growth.

Furthermore, it became clear that institutions, mechanisms, and information to support sustainable development need to be in place before substantial economic changes happen – otherwise it will be too late.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

From left: panelists Joseph Scarpaci, Miguel Coyula, Belmont Freeman.

“Today, I’ve been able to live the story of my country – at least, what pertains to my lifetime – through the eyes of architecture, urban planning, and all these interesting topics that we discussed today.”

– Jorge Angulo Valdés, marine scientist

Framing the Discussion The panelist presentations and conference discussions were oriented around a set of framing questions and key concepts, summarized here for context and further consideration. The conference sought to examine these overarching questions, setting the scene for continued dialogue and action on the shifting dynamics between Cuba and the United States.

Framing Statement

From left: panelists Jorge Angulo Valdés, Dilip da Cunha, moderator Dave Hampton.

“From the talks by the marine scientists; the recognition that the establishment of a new relationship between the US and Cuba, and support for a new civil society in Cuba, may be advanced most effectively not by governmental action but by the quieter efforts of people in the scientific and artistic communities.”

– Belmont Freeman, architect and planner

The thaw in Cuba-U.S. relations, highlighted by the opening of embassies in each country during the summer of 2015, is promising. It portends new spaces for dramatic change and improvement in Cuba’s economy, society, and built environment. With this new mobility will come tremendous opportunity to revitalize Cuba’s economy and improve the lives of Cubans, challenges in addressing myriad transitional and structural issues, and urgency to set constructive frameworks, as actions taken over the next several months will shape Cuba over the next several decades.

Cuba is today’s exemplar of contexts in which political change has had broad social, cultural, economic, and environmental ramifications (e.g. Richard Nixon’s 1972 overture to China; Germany’s reunification, ca. 1990, former Soviet states ca. 1993, and Vietnam ca. 2006). Particularly in regard to Cuba, studies have tended to focus on economic effects, at the expense of considering the impacts on the built and natural environments.

Key Questions 1. The economy, built environment, and ecology all influence each other, which, in turn affect and are affected by government policy and regulation. How can Cuba find a way forward that yields a sustainable, prosperous, inclusive island that at the same time maintains its distinctive Cuban character? What can we do to help achieve that vision?

2. What is a transition? Who - and what - sees this as a transition? Is there a transition underway? If so, what is being transitioned? Where do the environment and development fit in?

3. U.S. impact: Will an increasing thaw in Cuba-U.S. relations – driving an increasing number of tourists and investment from the U.S. – tip an already delicate balance of foreign interests and influence in Cuba?

What role will / should Cuban expatriates play? How might these challenges be shifted from risk to advantage?

4. How can Cuba become a model of resilient transitional development for future contexts that weaves together the built and ‘natural’ environments? What planning and regulatory tools will need to be strengthened and enforced, and what will need to be introduced to allow for effective implementation?

5. Is the preferred/ideal development model merely a continuation of the traditional, business-as-usual model, or, does it require an updating of accepted development practice to arrive at a more considered, measured, and appropriate paradigm?

6. How can things move forward despite the potential for more open relations to reverse in the 2016 U.S. elections? Will a slower pace of change provide opportunities for a better, more balanced outcome?

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Conference summary Miguel Coyula, Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Havana Keynote Address: Havana, portrait of a city.

Miguel Coyula delivered the keynote address for the symposium. He provided the audience with an overview of Cuba’s built environment through a historical progression, while highlighting the transformation of a city perceived to be frozen in time. Coyula noted that Cuba’s building stock is particularly old, with 80% of Havana having been built between 1900 and 1958. And though “it was built very fast, and very well,” it is now destitute: approximately three buildings collapse per day. This, coupled with rapid urbanization in Havana, results in an unmet housing demand of approximately 140,000 homes in metropolitan Havana (2.2 million population). Consistent with Cuba’s socio-political system, there are no homeless people in Cuba; rather, they are housed in ‘transit communities’.

Coyula explained that in apartment complexes, people can own individual apartment units but not the building. Ownership of the building is thus left unclear, with an attitude of, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

Consequently, many buildings are not maintained and the quality of the common spaces rapidly deteriorates.

This uniquely Cuban intersection between the built environment and the consequences of a socialist political ideology is representative of present-day Cuba.

He further noted that the Cuban economy faces significant challenges consistent with a limited labor market, a substantial brain-drain, and a rapidly aging population. With one-in-five people over sixty years old and a significant portion of Cuba’s population migrating out of Cuba, the challenges for the future are stark. Particularly as with the warming of relations between Cuba and the U.S., Cuba is likely to see a sudden increase in the number of tourists – the American Society of Travel Agencies estimates 1.8 to 2 million additional yearly visitors in 2016 – a reopened domestic real estate market, and increased foreign investment in real estate.

While much of this could be advantageous for Cuban citizens, a potential unfortunate and unintended consequence of these changes might be increased shantytowns or overdevelopment. Coyula illustrated the latter by showing renderings of how vacant lots along Havana’s Malecón could be overtaken by excessive and out-ofscale development, overshadowing the historic façades.

“Cuba is for Americans like the full moon for the werewolf… exerting a new kind of fascination. But, I would say the fascination is mutual.

There has always been an attraction between our countries, and all that is reflected – or is going to be reflected soon – with the normalization of relations between our countries.”

– Miguel Coyula

In closing, Coyula reminds us to look at examples of failed development projects elsewhere, adeptly noting: “The human being is the only animal that stumbles twice on the same stone.”

Inequities, disparities, and expectation: building stock in decline alongside vacant lots along Havana’s Malecón.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

Panel 1: Ecology, Culture, and Community Aynel Alvarez Guerra, Corporate Foreign Staff Associate, Brown Rudnick LLP Legal Frameworks for Environmental and Cultural Preservation

“[T]hank you... for removing those rusty locks of the Cuban doors and creating a space for dialogue that is so, so necessary to reveal the relations between the two countries.”

– Aynel Alvarez Guerra

Aynel Alvarez Guerra provided an in-depth look at the Cuban legal system, particularly in regards to environmental and cultural preservation. He underscored the progress that has already taken place within Cuba in terms of economic and business relations being mandated to work within legal frameworks that function to protect and promote the environment and cultural heritage, as well as bolster community development. A number of amendments made to the Constitution in 1992 necessitated the issuance of special laws – decrees or decree-laws – by various government ministries to ensure that legal protections are in place for culturally and environmentally sustainable economic development. Specifically, such laws established preventative and remedial measures to restore or protect cultural property in the face of development driven by tourism and foreign investment.

With respect to foreign investment in particular, Alvarez Guerra discussed the Foreign Investment Act that was modified by the Cuban Government in 2014, while Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro were in negotiations on normalizing relations. This law has several intents, including diversification and expansion of export markets; broadening access to advanced technologies and import substitution, particularly food imports; enabling foreign financing and resources of employment; developing product chains; and changing the country’s energy matrix through the use of renewable sources of energy (targeting 24% renewables by 2030).

The law stipulates who can invest in Cuba, in what sectors, and how those investors will be subjected to environmental and other regulations. In short, the Cuban government has made clear that foreign investment is only to be authorized in cases where it does not involve national defense, security, heritage, and the environment. Two key takeaways of Alvarez Guerra’s presentation are, first, that clear, direct language which holds Cuban citizens partially responsible for the protection of the environment and cultural heritage has made its way into the nation’s guiding documents and, second, that there are legal frameworks to back it.

Hopefully, these premises will remain front and center in the continuing dialogue on “removing those rusty locks on Cuba’s doors.”

The colors and textures of a metal gate in Cuba.

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Jorge Alberto Angulo Valdés, Professor, Center for Marine Research, University of Havana Education, Research, and the Role of Local Communities in Coastal Zone Management: A Caribbean Perspective Jorge Angulo Valdés brought unique insight into the complexities and contradictions of Cuba from a sector that bridges Cuban and international interests in the Caribbean waters. As an example, he pointed out that all of Cuba may be considered a coastal zone where fish are plentiful, yet one eats foreign fish in Cuba because the government sells Cuban fish elsewhere.

In response to the question Dave Hampton posed in his introduction, “What is Cuba?” Angulo Valdés discussed the futility in outsiders’ attempt to fully understand the lived realities of Cubans. Specifically, he maintained, “I don’t expect you to understand what’s going on here. Just live by it. Try to get to know the people.

That’s the real bond of our society: the people.”

Angulo Valdés highlighted how scarcity has shaped – and continues to shape – the mindset of Cubans. When resources are scarce, people learn to look for cheap goods rather than quality goods. For Cubans, this is very much the reality; and for Cubans outside of Cuba, it is often difficult to change this mentality. He also commented that, “we have to survive on making fun of ourselves, and laughing at our own problems…There is no way you can cope with such scarcities and stupid things going on [other] than by laughing.”

“It is a fact that the ocean that is between our two countries, instead of dividing us, is uniting us.”

– Jorge Angulo Valdes

From an ecological perspective, what happens in Cuban waters will affect all the islands in the Caribbean, including South Florida. The Cuban population is well-educated and resourceful, but the collective mindset has been molded in times of scarcity, of lacking opportunities, which profoundly impacts everything. Cubans have been focused on challenges on land, not in the sea, but that is beginning to change, largely through greater awareness brought through better education.

As Cuba opens up, changes are happening, although they may not be apparent right away. The marine environmental sector is seeing this gradual progress through increasing opportunities for Cuban emigrants to engage in Cuban-led research initiatives, and the Cuban Coast Guard is now more willing to issue permits for these emigrant researchers to board research boats in Cuban waters – thus opening up new possibilities for collaboration.

Healthy elkhorn coral, a species in global decline thrives in Cuban waters.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

David Guggenheim, Marine Scientist, OceanDoctor Divided Shores, Collective Ecosystem: Working across the Straits of Florida since Helms-Burton (1996) and Future Directions for Environmental Policy David Guggenheim and Jorge Angulo Valdés have collaborated on Cuba-U.S. oceanic and coastal conservation initiatives for many years, and Guggenheim reinforced his Cuban counterpart’s calls for better education and greater freedom in partnerships, especially regarding scientific exchange.

“What’s really important are the Cubans themselves: the people in the communities have to value their environment, have to have that perspective that they may not have. And they need to be proud of Cuba’s environmental achievements.”

– David Guggenheim

Guggenheim started his presentation by pointing out that marine life does not observe borders; sea turtles, fish, and even manatees migrate between Cuban and American waters. And that exploring development from an environmental perspective results in a different type of development, particularly when one puts an economic value on the environment. He emphasized that since Cuba has some of the most pristine and protected marine ecosystems in the world – the coral reefs and mangroves are among the healthiest in the world – it is vital that Cuban communities possess a sense of ownership and responsibility over their environment and take pride in their environmental values.

Guggenheim explained how - through marine science - Cuba and the U.S. have interacted for decades, underscoring that this link between the two countries via environmental research and education is important and must be maintained and strengthened. The connections between Cuba and the U.S. are perhaps most strong in the marine biology sector for as much as our diplomatic relations struggle, we continue to share waters and marine life. Initiatives such as the Cuba-U.S. Sustainability Partnership are bringing the two countries together to develop a set of ethics, guiding principles, and best practices for sustainable development in Cuba. At the root of this is a notion that in in order to protect the environment the transition of the two countries’ relationship must be managed carefully so as to avoid a Cancun-style of development.

Throughout Guggenheim’s time in Cuba, one theme has remained constant: the significance of community involvement in environmental protection and sustainable development. Educating the new generation of entrepreneurs on the principles of sustainability is thus vitally important.

Interdependent migratory fish patterns in the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida, and the Atlantic Ocean.

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Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo, Architect, Founder and Director of URBAM, EAFIT University Community Focused Urban Development in Transitional Context Alejandro Echeverri discussed the parallels of Medellin’s experience to that of Havana, specifically the urban narratives invoked in these emergent contexts. He began by discussing Medellin’s pervasive social segregation and violence and then questioned the market’s role in reproducing violence by exacerbating inequality and creating spaces of disconnection.

Echeverri spoke of how ethics and inclusion are necessary principles in urban development and design, especially in transitional contexts. To that end, he highlighted the importance of design employing holistic processes and creating linkages between projects. While architecture and infrastructure undoubtedly play a role in this, programming, particularly platforms for community and institutional involvement, is essential.

Design processes must connect at multiple scales, and the “small logics” of place must connect and scale to big systems. Facilitating these connections requires the engagement of institutions and people and including multiple voices and identities. More specifically, design processes must be community-based and allow space for public participation and mediation, dialogue, and collaboration between actors. Such spaces of community engagement and participation, or “soft infrastructure,” ensure that design and development processes are in touch with the day-to-day on-the-ground realities where they take place.

“You have to have institutions– even in small scales – [that] have the power and the clarity to build and develop ideas.”

– Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo

Dilip da Cunha, Adjunct Professor, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania Respondent Dilip da Cunha’s response to the four preceding panelist presentations sought to place all that was discussed within a frame of transition. He suggested that transition can orchestrate and usher in change as much as the concept of transition represents change in itself. Reiterating Angulo Valdés’ point, da Cunha stressed the necessity of education in contexts of transition. Additionally, he underscored the importance of moving beyond an overly bilateral focus on transition; it is not only unfair, but inaccurate, to take an entirely U.S.-centric perspective in such discussions of Cuba’s opening.

Da Cunha summed up the ramifications of the Cuba-U.S. embargo – limiting access to technology and resources – and spoke of the positive changes that have come over time, namely the shift in how the environment is viewed. He posited, however, that the whole of transition cannot be compared with the transition of the parts; as with the importance of processes in design as Echeverri stressed, transition must too be viewed as a process. Changes are likely to be gradual, and the thinking must shift from terra firma to aqua fluxus, the latter presenting new possibilities that might arise when considering how an island nation might build upon a ‘ground’ of water.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

“I think that today it’s very important to see most landscapes across the world as productive landscapes rather than as consumptive landscapes” – Dilip da Cunha

Discussion #1: Contradictions and Opportunities The discussion following the first panel revolved around the ways in which Cuba is a land of contradictions, how the 1962 U.S. trade embargo looms large as an ongoing challenge to future progress, how word choice matters in discussing the embargo and a potential transition in relationship to the US, and the role of tourism in past and present contexts. The example of the Cayo Coco causeway presented an opportunity to critique the effectiveness of Cuba’s environmental regulation, centralized governance, and the lack of public involvement in decision making. This highlighted a context where overcentralization, sectoriality, and lack of access to information, equipment, and well-trained professionals must be overcome.

The causeway to Cayo Coco negatively impacted the ecology of the Bahia de Perros (Bay of Dogs), requiring a redesign.

“The prevailing mentality in the 70s and 80s was: you got an order. The goal is to go from here to the keys. Forget about the rest. The rest will come later...

And this is something that we inherited from the Soviet Union. Because what we inherited from them was that what matters is the goal, not the process.”

– Miguel Coyula

Panelists noted that even after Cuba’s notable engagement in the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the Socialist model of moving forward without looking back was still the predominant approach to development, which, for some participants, signaled a warning against the tendency to over-romanticize Cuba’s environmental record.

Economic development has remained the first priority of the Cuban government, especially since the start of the Special Period, with the production of goods and services prioritized at the expense of other considerations. This is perhaps a hold-over sentiment from the Soviet era, as Miguel Coyula suggested that, “what we inherited from them was that what matters is the goal, not the process.”

A notable example of this approach is a 27-kilometer pedraplén, or oversea vehicular causeway, designed and authorized by CITMA – the Cuban Ministry of Environment in 1988. It was built to connect the mainland to Cayo Coco key, then a new tourist destination. The bermed roadway contributed to the degradation of the bay – including protected mangroves – by restricting the flow of natural oceanwater recharge in the bay through only narrow bridge openings – eventually requiring a redesign and retrofit of the causeway to mitigate its environmental impact. This goal-focused approach failed to apply sufficient understanding of currents and the movement of water and overlooked local input – such as that of area fishermen.

Panelists openly discussed how Cuban government decision-making tends to be confusing, top-down, divided by sector, opaque, and with limited citizen influence. Applicable to every aspect of Cuban society, this is of growing concern as local governments are increasingly faced with decisions about appropriate land-use, managing increased capitalization, and the pressures of commercial (lobbying) interests to development. Civil society is often entangled within national government, so despite the existence of some environmental NGOs, the role of the people in environmental change is limited, even as compared to other international contexts including the former Communist bloc. Furthermore , environmental journalism – prevalent in the U.S. – is nonexistent in Cuba, as it is perceived as contradictory to government goals. Several panelists referred to the fact that neither government nor civil society have the resources to undertake proper research and that what research is conducted is done so along narrow disciplinary lines, highlighting the need for more social science approaches – sociology, anthropology – which could look at, and inform management of, how people behave in relation to resources. Highlighting the depth of the sectoral divisions David Guggenheim described a series of events on the Isle of Youth, where government ministries acted counter to each other’s goals and illegal overfishing occurred at the hands of the official government-sanctioned fishing industry.

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Keynote speaker Miguel Coyula refered to the U.S. embargo of Cuba as “the finger in the wound”, designed to create difficulties for the fledgling Revolutionary government that would trigger unrest and – ultimately – the failure of the revolution. The lack of access to technical competence in the design of the Cayo Coco causeway was cited as an example of the fallout of such an isolating policy.

Panelists discussed how the embargo has limited the free flow of ideas, restricted access to critical information, goods, and existing and emerging technologies, and remains a central barrier to the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States, citing as an example a time-consuming special approval process that impedes the export of scientific equipment from the U.S. to Cuba even for projects with U.S. collaborators. Improvements have been seen since Cuba’s removal from the U.S. list of nations with state-sponsored terrorism in 2015, but barriers to full scientific collaboration persist, among them limitations by the Cuban Government on authorization for Cuban-American personnel to participate in scientific research, access to information on the island, and U.S. academic institutions barring Cuban authors or co-authors on scientific publications because of concerns over what the U.S. Government might consider to be illegal export of intellectual-property.

While a call to lift the ineffective, obstructive, and outdated policy of the embargo was sounded among panelists and participants alike, the embargo was also seen as possibly a temporary check against rampant investment and excessive influence of U.S. capital in the short-term; an opportunity to plan for the “tsunami of North Americans.”

Panelists also discussed how the terminology used could affect the outcomes of conversations on Cuba-U.S relations. For instance, in Cuba the term

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‘blockade’ is widely-used, rather than ‘embargo’, and thus referring to the legal framework as such would be more likely to inspire trust in interpersonal exchanges with Cubans. At the same time, it was noted that academic and legal circles have begun to adapt the latter in order to pave the way for more open dialogue with the United States. Aynel Alvarez Guerra explained that many professionals in Cuba want to move on in negotiations and to avoid words that have been causing friction in the past. As an example he noted that the term ‘transition’ elicits strong reactions among Cubans, and carries the connotation of a sovereign nation being forced to accept U.S. guidance toward new economic and political model. Therefore the use of the term ‘transition’ can be problematic because Cuba has clearly indicated its continuing allegiance to the socialist model.

The panel tackled the question of what positive role tourism could play in the protection of marine environments. Panelist’s responses ranged from cautious optimism to high hopes for true transformation, citing overdeveloped Cancún, Mexico as an example of the “mirror of consumption that [tourism] holds up” to be avoided at all costs. It was also suggested that true ecotourism – where local communities have agency and accrue real benefits – might reinforce a paradigm shift away from consumptive and towards productive landscapes. Panelists noted that Cuba has the opportunity to challenge the status quo approach towards urbanism and development and positions itself on the world stage as a starting point for the transformation of the global environment. As David Guggenheim said, “people are willing to pay a premium – tourists are – on authentic experience. Cuba is unapologetically authentic, and that is something that they can market without having to remake themselves into a caricature like other tourist destinations around the world.”

Panel 2: Built Environment and Housing – Navigating Investment Pressures Gabriel Fuentes, Architect, DA|S Design Action Studio for Research, Architecture and Urbanism History and Modernity: Transition through Cuban Architecture Gabriel Fuentes discussed how architecture reflects history and socio-cultural contexts, focusing particularly on transition. He also critiqued the narratives of nostalgia that are invoked in many conversations surrounding transition, as they romanticize the false notion of a city frozen in time, echoing Coyula’s earlier concerns.

Rather than accepting this implication of Cuban culture as static, the context of transition presents an opportunity to embrace social, economic, and cultural change without repeating mistakes made in the past.

“I want to resist a cliché: that Havana is a city frozen in time. Of course, in many ways, it is. At the same time, to describe any city as something being frozen in time is counter-productive to the way cities actually work. Cities evolve, cities have to move forward, cities have to breathe, cities have to change.”

– Gabriel Fuentes

To show that the trope of a timeless city does not reflect the reality of how a city works, Fuentes guided the audience through a photographic tour of the variation and evolution of Cuban architecture, particularly from the 1930s to 1959, with styles influenced by the particular social, cultural, economic, and environmental context of their respective time and place. He explored the influences at work in the Modern, International Style, Art Deco, Beaux Arts, and Art Nouveau designs of many Cuban houses built in the first half of the 20th century. Fuentes emphasized how architects searched for lo Cubano in the architecture rather than portraying their design choices as a departure from a falsely perceived monolithic and static and imported culture.

Fuentes’ examples teased out the concepts of form, style, and place, and their interrelationship in Havana’s urban fabric. Form is malleable and fluid, and responds to a particular social or climatic condition or otherwise; change is inevitable and does not necessarily mean a loss of culture, tradition, and identity. The current context of transition thus calls for a thoughtful consideration of the role of design and place in creating architecture that harmonizes the fluidity of form and culture with environmental realities, social needs, and the essence of lo Cubano. Drawing on Eugenio Batista’s 3 Ps of Cuban architecture – patio, portal, and persianas (louvers) – he suggested five transitional building elements that also characterize the traditional elements of the Cuban home, and how the best Cuban architects melded imported design styles with local tradition, climate, and building materials.

Converging polarities - an uncompromisingly traditional aesthetic and a radical departure or Modernist ‘clean break from the past’ - to arrive at something more inherently Cuban.

Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

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David Smith, Founder and CEO, Affordable Housing Institute Global Context: The interaction of public and private finance on housing and built environment in transitional states David Smith delivered a unique perspective on what is potentially in store for Cuba’s development. Consistent with experiences in over thirty countries around the world, Smith cautioned about the unequal race of money and interest in development, land, and environmental protection. Smith noted that, historically, small allowances for development practices have often become big tsunamis – think Cancún. He discussed the importance of reconciling – in a sustainable and equitable manner – three key imbalances, or opposing forces: (1) land-use economics and environmental protection, (2) formal and informal infrastructure, and (3) private and public interests.

Smith cautioned that strong land-use economics so often mean that a transition becomes a method of value capture by the elite, where private interests prevail over those of the public. While this is a key lesson-learned from other failed developments, it does not mean that all development should be thwarted. Cuba’s changing relationship with the U.S. may be a chance to bring much needed urban regeneration to the many destitute areas in Havana. The city is under-capitalized.

“Poverty is photogenic. Poverty is romantic. But you don’t see the pictures of scarcity, and scarcity is the reality.”

– David Smith

The idealized view of Cuba as a portal into history is problematic, as it whitewashes and distorts real poverty and a lack of opportunity. The thawing of relations between Cuba and the U.S. has the potential to open the door for Cuban education, entrepreneurialism, and growth in many other ways – but only if the ‘opening’ of Cuba is managed to ensure against a tragedy of the commons-type development.

Adolfo Garcia, Partner, Brown Rudnick LLP Development Pressures: Negotiating a Complex Business Space Adolfo Garcia offered unique insight on Cuban and U.S. relations from both a personal – he was born in Cuba and came to the U.S. at a young age – and professional perspective. Garcia shared personal experiences of engaging with Cuban-American views of multiple generations, namely the differing opinions on the pros and cons of the Castro regime. Diverging from the perspective of his mother’s generation, Garcia views the thawing of Cuba-U.S. relations as the next opportunity to not squander the future. However, this does not mean that the opening up of relations should be immediate or all-encompassing – there are still many questions to ask, such as: how do we get to the future? And is U.S. law really the biggest limitation or factor?

Garcia reminded us that Cubans tend to have long memories and remain in the mindset of division. There are also certain byproducts of a closed society, including a dearth of Cuban professional-class counterparts for international negotiations. A drastic increase in training and education will help, but not immediately.

Change will be gradual – in fact, change must be gradual, with interaction and exposure on both sides.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

“Dismantling the embargo will bring about an unleashing of forces which will be beyond the ability of a totalitarian and dictatorial government to control.”

– Adolfo Garcia

Joseph L. Scarpaci, Executive Director, Center for the Study of Cuban Culture + Economy Cuba Facing Forward: The Function of Planning in a Regional Reimagining Throughout his career, Joseph L. Scarpaci has bridged the gap between Cuban and American culture through academia and field research. His familiarity with Cuba and other Latin American cultures has exposed him to many failed development projects, leading him to understand that conventional approaches to development will not work when there is not structural change. The U.S.-centric concept of a dramatic transition occurring in Cuba as a result of thawing Cuba-U.S. relations is largely incorrect, as many other foreigners have been trying to invest in Cuba for years to no-avail. He emphasized this point by stating, “there is no transition; it’s just a bump in the road.”

“One of the things that we just have to get in our vernacular is that change has to come from within” – Joseph Scarpaci

As a development expert, Scarpaci reminded the audience of the internal obstacles to change in Cuba – including a lack of transparency and the top-down approval processes for all foreign investment. Of course, since big developers and investors are likely to find ways around these obstacles, it is necessary to encourage a different kind of development.

Scarpaci suggested that change in Cuba needs to – and will – happen from within – once a balance between local and tourist needs is reached – with a Cuban tax base to finance necessary renovations such as water and sanitation infrastructure, investments in education, and training programs for traditional crafts and trades.

This approach, coupled with increased remittances from Cuban expatriates or family members could promote sustainable development in Cuba, and will hopefully avoid Disneyification or Cancún-style development.

What do you see in this picture? Poverty, under-maintenance... and an emergent economy.

Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

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Belmont Freeman, Principal, Belmont Freeman Architects Respondent As conversations on changing Cuba-U.S. relations continue, Belmont Freeman cautioned against falling prey to four dominant perspectives. First, reiterating Joseph Scarpaci’s earlier point, he challenged the narcissistic attitude of so many Americans that the United States’ lifting of the embargo and Cuba’s opening up to U.S. investment will singularly change Cuba, for better or for worse. It is important to recognize that the United States is not the first to look toward investing in Cuba; individuals and entities from other countries have been trying for decades to enter the Cuban market, and they have consistently run up against Cuba’s rigid bureaucracy and pervasive control over all economic activity within the country.

Second, he countered the decidedly anti-modernization/urbanization lens through which Americans view the specter of changes in Cuba. This echoes the sentiments expressed by Miguel Coyula, David Smith, and Gabriel Fuentes of the danger in romanticizing a timeless Cuba that can be ruined by transition. Freeman thus took issue with the “thoughtless mantra” of Americans who want to visit Cuba before it changes. Rather than ignorantly dreading change in Cuba, he maintained, it has to be viewed as a necessity for the survival of the Cuban people. Continuing to uphold an aesthetic of timelessness obscures the very real hardships that Cubans experience in their daily lives and discounts their ingenuity. To illustrate this point, Belmont raised the example of non-professional construction of housing in which pre-revolutionary houses have been repurposed to accommodate more families than originally intended.

“The Revolution has had a certain anti-urban strain to it, in that it has favored rural development and the eradication of rural poverty – which is where poverty existed prior to the Revolution – in great concentration. That’s certainly a laudable goal, but it has come at the detriment of Cuba’s cities. ” – Belmont Freeman

Third, as part of this romanticization, there is often a myopic focus on activities within – and preservation of – Old Havana. While it is unquestionably an important aspect of Cuba’s cultural heritage, this attention occurs at the expense of the greater City of Havana. And fourth, though the Cuban people have already themselves been making changes, irrespective of any shift in their country’s relations with the United States, it would be imprudent to ignore the scale and magnitude of the challenge of development, particularly if the many pitfalls and risks of unfettered development that were raised by other panelists are to be avoided.

The ruins of Havana’s Hotel Packard, a perennial favorite candidate for redevelopment, slated for an upgrade by French developer Bouygues.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

Discussion #2: Capital Flow and Institutions

Example of a paladar, or restaurant in a private home. Paladares are popular among visitors and a path to economic resilience for a growing sector of small entrepreneurs in Cuba.

“[C]apital normalization at the lower level will outpace formal capital normalization while the cruise ships are trying to figure out which bahía they can stick the liner in.”

– David Smith

The second discussion session focused on themes similar to those in the first, though with more concrete focus on the built environment and the nature of residential and commercial development on the island.

Addressing comments on challenges created by the Cuban government’s over-centralization, panelists focused on an overarching theme of identifying and leveraging both changes and existing systems within Cuba. One participant raised the idea of “remittances as a vehicle of global development,” spurring a discussion on how such cash flows might fuel a more expanded, dynamic, and equitable future private sector beyond the city of Havana, the possibilities of a cooperative economy and collective equity, and the roles of both small-to-medium enterprises and trained professionals. However, Miguel Coyula mentioned that the source of – and destination of – remittances tends to favor urban whites, forcing Cubans of color, or in rural areas, to seek other sources of capital, suggesting that “it’s creating a big disparity by the color of the skin...”

Panelists commented that the Cuban government seems loath to acknowledge – or credit – the role and effects of non-state or local actors, seeing big business as the only solution, when in fact the use of remittances sent by Cuban émigrés is shifting away from merely supporting their Cuban family members toward investment in properties, small businesses, and the improvement of both. For example, paladares – Cuba’s popular home-based restaurants – which have become increasingly prolific, are allowed to hire servers from outside the home and seat up to 50 guests since Raúl Castro’s ascendancy to the presidency. Often advertised by their owners on the internet, and improved with interior design, these small businesses are becoming more sophisticated, and now compete with state-owned restaurants and hotels which struggle to accommodate the increasing numbers of tourists, or deliver a comparably pleasant dining or culinary experience.

Furthermore, it was pointed out that the absence of capital normalization at institutional and government levels highlights the degree to which normalization exists in the most fundamental unit of trust – the family.

Such high levels of localized trust create fertile ground for cooperative economies. Citing the successful model of quasi-agricultural cooperatives in China, discussants suggested that the self-formation of cooperatives in Cuba be enabled, particularly for residential buildings. Such a scenario would give building residents ownership of common areas (stairwells, lobbies, etc.), thereby addressing disinvestment in these areas, improving building maintenance, and extending building lifecycles. This model would also offer more individual protections than condominium laws and create opportunities for wealth-building around real estate-based assets.

Professional over-regulation stood out as another glaring roadblock to development. Architect and planner Miguel Coyula echoed his earlier lament on the diminishment of the community architect into a bureaucrat rather than a working professional. He noted that professionals are “not being considered as an additional motor to speed up the process – or to ‘dynamize’ the process of small business in the city,” citing their increasing involvement in the improvement of homes and businesses – such as the aforementioned paladares – while often having to do so por la izqueirda – on the side. Belmont Freeman argued for the involvement of design professionals in planning with respect to zoning and other regulations on where restaurants could be allowed and how existing buildings and homes could be modified for expanded or new uses. For as Gabriel Fuentes said, “Moving forward implies paying attention to – and understanding – what was before us.”

Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

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Closing Discussion: From Dualities and Hardship to Opportunities “Cuba is a country full of contradiction.” - Jorge Angulo Valdés “Nothing in Cuba is certain unless it’s in the past.” - David Guggenheim These quotes from two marine scientists – who have worked together for over a decade across an ocean, between two countries at odds – aptly summarize the conference’s closing discussion. Bringing all eleven panelists together into one discussion, the closing panel focused on framing a way forward, and sought to answer the question of how Cuba might direct a rising tide of foreign investment and special interests towards a trajectory of equitable development while working with – and within – a fluid territory of contradiction.

Optimism, confidence, and faith existed side-by-side with trepidation as to the nature of change, and what that change might bring. While hopeful about future prospects for relations between the U.S. and Cuba, discussants referenced earlier discussions that grounded the conversation, offering caution against tendencies to treat Cuba as either a place frozen in amber – a not-unfounded fear when comparing foreign (especially American) influence throughout Caribbean – or a place to be changed from the outside.

Jorge Angulo Valdés and David Guggenheim have maintained a successful scientific partnership across an ocean and exemplify a model for future collaboration.

Dilip da Cunha noted an overall tendency toward bilateralism during panel discussions themselves, dualities which require balancing acts to navigate, asking whether the U.S. and Cuba are the only actors to be considered, at the exclusion of all others. This question was furthered by asking if the resolution of compensation for expropriated U.S. properties – or Cuba’s seeking of reparations for the economic damages of the embargo – might derail new foreign investment from other countries besides the United States. Furthermore, Joseph Scarpaci stressed the lack of nuance of discourse within Cuba, suggesting that it was too dichotomous.

“Cuba does not exist as a time-warped destination which exists for the pleasure of visitors from the North.”

– Belmont Freeman

The excitement around the possibilities of normalizing relations was checked by fears of change – something to dread, something that will impede. The question was raised as to whether the embargo is a limiter – keeping out essential goods, technologies, and people – or an enabler of other things that may, as Adolfo Garcia suggested, “…bring about [the] unleashing of forces which will be beyond the ability of a totalitarian and dictatorial government to control.” Similarly, David Guggenheim specifically referenced the potential impact of additional tourists on Cuba’s environment, stating, “It is ironic that the United States might represent a bigger threat to Cuba as its ‘friend’ than as its enemy.” Opportunity can be ambiguous.

The nature of the conference – cautiously upbeat, with the chance for meaningful dialogue among a multiplicity of voices, backgrounds, experience, and disciplines was lauded. Gabriel Fuentes commented that “The idea that we can have a panel like this blows my mind.” David Guggenheim also noted that this was an “unlikely group to come together and speak a common language: love, respect, and humility for a bigger-than-life small island”. Building on the model of the conference itself, discussants stressed the importance of building partnerships, interdisciplinary approaches, and collaboration within and with Cuba, over the simple application of models from outside the island, as well as acknowledging that change is already occurring.

Participants at the Cuba Facing Forward conference.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

Joseph Scarpaci characterized the Cuban people as “creative, talented, and innate problem-solvers”. Citing Cuba’s strong environmental and foreign investment laws, David Guggenheim said that “Cuba picked the perfect time not to play follow-the-leader”, further highlighting the value of Cuba’s well-educated population, and relative lack of corruption – at least as compared to other Caribbean nations – at the top levels of government.

Exclusion and marginalization: who will the new fencing around a restored fountain in plaza in Habana Vieja keep out in the name of aesthetics?

“Cuba is unapologetically authentic, and that is something that they can market without having to remake themselves into a caricature like other tourist destinations around the world.”

– David Guggenheim

The high capacity of Cuban professionals was repeatedly emphasized, in particular highlighting the possibilities of the imaginative, projective, and entrepreneurial thinking that design processes could enable. Implying a proactive rather than an ad hoc, reactive approach typical of a siloed national government, Belmont Freeman suggested that attention should be paid to, “how to design a beneficial sequence of change or transition.”

Could more involvement by the Community Architect and other professionals in similarly inclusive teams apply design thinking to help flesh out a place for nascent civil society organizations and local governments?

Citing an example of broadly participatory workshops mounted recently by multidisciplinary groups – of average citizens, artisans, and professionals – for the holistic redevelopment of Havana, it was suggested that this approach might begin to address capacity gaps in a governance structure with little gradation between a top-heavy, opaque, bureaucratic, national government and individuals, in order to address the complex planning, infrastructure, economic, and environmental challenges facing Cuban cities.

Discussants also returned to the question of terminology, suggesting that if the prevailing language used to discuss present-day Cuba is loaded with negative meaning – ‘embargo’, ‘blockade’, ‘transition’ – and thus limits possibilities, why not change it? Dilip da Cunha suggested that one “Look to something outside the distraction of polarities…”, including among those things the possibilities of a productive landscape in which visitors might contribute, rather than merely consume.

Ultimately, though the conference did not specifically focus on it, there was a call for a spotlight to remain on the hardships that the Cuban people face – years of crisis and scarcity, being largely sidelined in an interconnected world – and the related vulnerability to increasing socio-economic disparity. As change occurs, there must be recognition of who is being excluded or marginalized, and who benefits from change, both on and off the island.

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Panelists Aynel Alvarez Guerra (Panelist) Aynel Alvarez Guerra is a Foreign Staff Associate in the Corporate group at Brown Rudnick. His experience includes mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance with a special focus on cross-border and multijurisdictional transactional work. He has also provided pro bono service to non-profit entities in the Boston area. Prior to his departure from Cuba in 2007 to pursue an international legal education, Aynel worked as a legal advisor at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he provided advice on multilateral and bilateral legal issues. He focused on work involving sovereign immunity and the status of state-owned enterprises in international litigation and arbitration. A member of the Firm’s Latin America Practice Group, Aynel is also part of the Firm’s Cuba Initiative to assist clients in transactions and matters related to Cuba.

Jorge Angulo Valdés (Panelist) Jorge Alberto Angulo Valdés is a full time Professor at the University of Havana’s Center for Marine Research (CIM) and a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Florida’s School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE). He was the Director of the Center for Marine Research at the University of Havana and Director of the International Ocean Institute Operational Center in Cuba. Currently he chairs the Marine Conservation Group at CIM. His research interests include marine management effectiveness of marine protected areas, ecology of reef fish, ecology of manatees and sharks, natural resources conservation and bio economics. He has published over 30 papers and several book chapters dealing with his research areas. He has led several research projects funded by international agencies such as the International Development Research Institute, Canada; the Whitley Fund for Nature, England; and the Sea to Shore Alliance, USA. Miguel Coyula (Keynote Speaker) Miguel Coyula is an architect, urban planner, professor at the University of Havana, and international lecturer. Coyula is a graduate of the architectural program of the Higher Polytechnic Institute in Havana and has chronicled Cuban architecture since the Colonial Era. From 1971 until 1990, Coyula worked at the Cuban Ministry of Construction, first as a researcher and later as a specialist in the department of International Relations. From 1990 until his retirement in 2012, he worked at the Group for Integrated Development of the Capital (GDIC), the leading government think tank that advises the Havana government on issues of urban development. Since 2001, Coyula has lectured at over 20 universities and research institutions throughout Latin America, the US and Europe, and served as a visiting professor at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City. He serves as a consultant to Cubasolar, an NGO promoting the use of renewable energy and is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists in Cuba (UNEAC).

Dilip Da Cunha (Panelist) Dilip Da Cunha is an architect and planner, Adjunct Professor at the School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, and a Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In collaboration with his partner Anuradha Mathur he is author of several books. Most recently they have co-edited a book entitled Design in the Terrai. An underlying thread in Mathur and da Cunha’s work is a concern for how water is visualized and engaged in ways that lead to conditions of its excess and scarcity, but also the opportunities that its fluidity offers for new visualizations of terrain, design imagination, and design practice. They are currently working on a project provisionally titled The Invention of Rivers. It stems from questioning the natural status given to rivers and the imaging and imagining that this assumption has inspired. Far from being natural entities, they argue that rivers are products of a cultivated eye that privilege water at one moment in the hydrological cycle when it appears containable and controllable. Through the alternative of a rain terrain – the appreciation of water everywhere before it is somewhere, they are researching an alternate ground for design and planning.

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Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

Panelists Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo (Panelist) Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo is a Colombian architect born in Medellin who believes in the ethical responsibility of designers to contribute to a better society.

His focus has been on emergent territories characterized by informality, exclusion, inequity and instability. He has led multidisciplinary teams in architectural or urban projects that become the backbone for social and territorial development of a flexible and holistic ecosystem. To this end he has built connections with government, civic institutions and communities. The hallmark of his work is innovation and creativity, with design as a constant learning process. Since 2010, he has been the founder and director of URBAM, the Center for Urban and Environmental Studies of EAFIT University. URBAM delves into the urban, environmental and social issues of developing countries, particularly those with weak political and institutional structures.

Belmont Freeman (Panelist) Belmont Freeman, FAIA, is principal of Belmont Freeman Architects, an award-winning design firm in New York City that he founded in 1986, and earned his Bachelors of Arts from Yale University and his Masters of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Fine Arts. Belmont is an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. From 1997 to 2008, he was the President of Storefront for Art & Architecture, a not-for-profit design gallery in New York City. He has served on the Board of Governors of the Association of Yale Alumni and the Board of Directors of the Society of Architectural Historians.

An American of Cuban descent, Belmont has done extensive research, writing and lecturing on the subject of Cuban architecture and has led many architectural tours of Cuba. In 2004 he co-produced, at Storefront for Art and Architecture, the landmark exhibition “Architecture and Revolution in Cuba, 1959-1969,” which examined the avant-garde design produced in Cuba during the first, heroic phase of the revolution.

Gabriel Fuentes (Panelist) Gabriel Fuentes is founder and director of DA|S Design Action Studio for Research, Architecture + Urbanism, as an Assistant Professor at Marywood University’s School of Architecture. He earned graduate degrees in both architecture (Florida International University) and urban design (Columbia University), and he has a graduate certificate in architectural history, theory and criticism from FIU. As a designer, writer, and educator his work has been widely recognized. He has presented his research both nationally and internationally, including at the 2011 Cuba Futures Conference. He has published a book chapter on Cuban Modern Architecture.

Adolfo Garcia (Panelist) Adolfo Garcia is a Partner at Brown Rudnick, and focuses his practice in the corporate and international areas. He has extensive experience handling various corporate and business transactions including financings, private equity, securities, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, investments, restructurings and contractual arrangements in the U.S., as well as most other parts of the world. Dolf also represents non-U.S.-based clients with their U.S.-based and/or U.S. law governed matters. Dolf has spent a substantial portion of his 41 years of practice dealing with various types of situations involving international business in countries other than the U.S. Dolf has an intimate understanding of matters involving Cuba-U.S. relations. His personal experience as a Cuban exile at the age of 12, coupled with a strong understanding of U.S. laws and regulations regarding Cuba, positions Dolf well to advise U.S. and non-U.S. companies in matters involving Cuba as Cuba and the U.S. enter into a new era regarding relations with each other.

Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

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Panelists Dr. David Guggenheim (Panelist) Dr. David E. Guggenheim is a marine scientist, conservation policy specialist, submarine pilot, ocean explorer and educator. He is president and founder of the Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization, Ocean Doctor. He directs Cuba Conservancy — an Ocean Doctor Program, and is in his 15th year leading research and conservation in Cuba focused on coral reefs and sea turtles, a joint effort with the University of Havana. David led the formation of the Trinational Initiative for Marine Science & Conservation in the Gulf of Mexico & Western Caribbean, a major project to elevate collaboration in marine science and conservation among Cuba, Mexico and the US. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from George Mason University, a Master’s in Aquatic and Population Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master’s in Regional Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Joseph L. Scarpaci (Panelist) Joseph L. Scarpaci (Ph.D., Florida) is Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture + Economy. He is Emeritus Professor at Virginia Tech where he taught urban planning, Latin American Studies, health and social policy, international development, and marketing. During his 76 trips to Cuba, he has introduced over 800 Americans to the island, including students on 15 study-abroad trips. His current research examines consumer behavior and iconic branding in socialist countries in Latin America and Scandinavia, and was funded by Aarhus University COFUND-Madame Marie Curie Senior Fellowship, European Union.

David Smith (Panelist) David Smith is the founder and CEO of the Affordable Housing Institute, which develops sustainable housing financial ecosystems worldwide. With more than 30 years’ direct experience in affordable housing, David uniquely combines the roles of practitioner and theoretician, participant and policymaker. His work as an international housing finance policy advisor/ program developer encompasses projects in Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, India, Ireland, Kenya, Middle East, Panama, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Turkey, and United Kingdom, and he is a much sought-after speaker on affordable housing issues around the world. A 1975 Harvard graduate, he is an award-winning author with more than 200 published articles in real estate, valuation, and policy periodicals, and a textbook, as well as an influential blog. David is also founder and Chairman of Recap Real Estate Advisors (formerly CASFAS, and before that, Recap Advisors), a Boston-based firm that specializes in complex multifamily asset problems, with an active practice area in the finance of existing affordable housing.

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Organizers Sandra Bonito (Organizer) Sandra Bonito is a Master of Architecture I candidate at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. She was born and raised in Cuba and arrived in the U.S. at the age of twenty. Prior to joining the GSD, Sandra worked for Marvel Architects in New York City and Ram-Tech Construction in Miami, Florida. Her interests are in public space, New Urbanism, Latin American Architecture and Urban Planning. Sandra completed an Associate in Arts in Architecture from Miami Dade College receiving the Best Architecture Student of the Year Award in 2009. She graduated with the Highest Honors with Distinction. Sandra completed a Bachelors of Arts in Architecture at Columbia University graduating Suma Cum Laude with Departmental Honors. During her undergraduate education, Sandra has examined, through both design and research, the built future of Havana and aims to continue exploring its horizons. Sandra is a scholar of the Mas Family Scholarship, an initiative of the Jorge Mas Canosa Freedom Foundation, whose purpose is “to advance the education of talented young Cuban and Cuban American men and women” and promote the ideals of freedom and democracy.

Anya Brickman Raredon (Moderator and Organizer) Anya Brickman Raredon’s interest in how physical space reflects and informs social discourse has developed from her studies in urban planning, architecture, anthropology and dance. As Principal at the Affordable Housing Institute, Anya leads AHI’s work in the formalization and redevelopment of informal settlements and post-disaster urban areas. Anya has directed projects in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as AHI’s research initiatives on Instant Cities and housing in Cuba. Since January of 2010 she has worked on the development of community-based reconstruction and development strategies for Port au Prince, through partnerships with the MIT Center for Advanced Urbanism, MIT Community Innovators Lab (CoLab), Harvard Graduate School of Design and Oxfam America. Anya received a Masters in City Planning from MIT in 2011, and her thesis “Opportunity in Haiti: Women as Agents of Resilience” was published in the online Gender and Disaster Sourcebook. She received her B.A. from Yale in 2004 with Honors in Architecture.

Dave Hampton (Moderator and Organizer) Dave Hampton is a Master of Design Studies (MDes) candidate in the Risk and Resilience concentration at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Prior to beginning the MDes program, Dave established re:ground llc, a consultancy providing expertise for the integration of natural systems and built environments to clients in international development, urban, and post-disaster contexts. A practicing architect for 20 years, Dave’s experience includes living systems (green roofs, vertical gardens), energy-efficiency, and building deconstruction and resource conservation advocacy with Urban Habitat Chicago and the Delta Institute. From 2010-2013, he worked with Architecture for Humanity, J/P Haitian Relief Organization, UN-Habitat, and Internews to help manage the transition from emergency response to neighborhood redevelopment in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His research interests are pathways to resilience through constructed/restored ecologies, and urban coastal climate change adaptation, especially in post-colonial contexts. Currently, he is investigating Cuba as a basis for questioning the status quo of international development strategy and designing a future strategy based around inclusive, cohesive, and productive landscapes.

Ali Karimi (Organizer) Ali Karimi is a Bahraini Masters in Architecture student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His interests are in social housing, public space, and infrastructural re-imaginings of the Gulf. Prior to joining the GSD, Ali worked in Dubai with HOK, in Chile with Elemental, and attained regional experience in public and private projects through his time in Bahrain with Gulf House Engineering. Ali completed his Bachelors of Science in Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology (2011) graduating with highest honors, with minors in Architectural History, History, and a certificate in Land Development. During summer 2015, Ali conducted field research in Havana on social housing and how residents have modified their homes over time.

Cuba Facing Forward: 2015 Conference Summary

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CUBA MIRA AL FUTURO Entre transición y desarrollo en la nación más escudriñada del Caribe Universidad de Harvard 14 de noviembre 2015 Resumen de la conferencia 17 de febrero 2016

Cuba Mira al Futuro: Entre Transición y Desarrollo en la Nación más Escudriñada del Caribe El Affordable Housing Institute (Instituto de Vivienda Asequible), en colaboración con estudiantes de la Escuela de Graduados Universitarios de Diseño (GSD) Compilación y edición: Dave Hampton, Anya Brickman Raredon, Leah Demarest y Elisabeth Leaning.

Traducción a español: Laura Arco Martínez. © 2016 Dave Hampton, Anya Brickman Raredon y Affordable Housing Institute. Revisión de 6 abril, 2016.

Cubierta: La Bahía de Santiago de Cuba desde el Castillo del Morro, 2012.

Esta conferencia se realizó como parte de un grupo de actividades complementarias en la Universidad de Harvard, específicamente en la Escuela de Graduados Universitarios de Diseño (GSD). La conferencia versó sobre los temas tratados el 24 de septiembre en un panel organizado por Michael Hooper, profesor adjunto de Planificación Urbana, y que tuvo por título ‘El reto de cambiar: el futuro de la Habana’. Dicho evento propició que se reunieran, cineastas cubanos, arquitectos y planificadores de Harvard, para dialogar acerca de cómo preservar la esencia de la cultura cubana y su arquitectura histórica paralelamente a la apertura de una creciente demanda del turismo.

‘Cuba mira al futuro:’ se estructuró además para conformar una serie de discusiones acerca de las ciudades y países que enfrentan cambios importantes, y se vincula al trabajo realizado previamente por el Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos David Rockefeller, poseedor de una excelente historia de compromiso con América Latina y Cuba, principalmente a través del Programa de Estudios Cubanos.

Agradecemos a los patrocinadores y contribuyentes: Brown Rudnick, LLP; re:ground LLC; el Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos David Rockefeller; Distant Horizons; y el Centro de Estudios de la Economía y la Cultura Cubana, y, especialmente a Diane Davis, Michael Hooper, Joseph L. Scarpaci, Harriet Brickman, Tom Raredon, Elsa y Dave Hampton, Sr., y a la Oficina de Planificación y Recursos Físicos de la Facultad de las Artes y las Ciencias de Harvard.

Créditos de imagen: Cubierta: Anya Brickman Raredon, fotos del evento: Ali Karimi, foto fija: Servicios de Tecnología y Medios de la Universidad de Harvard, 4: Ali Karimi, 8: Miguel Coyula, 9: Aynel Álvarez Guerra, 10-11: David Guggengeim/Ocean Doctor, 13: coolescu, 15: Gabriel Fuentes, 17: Howard Banwell, 18: Belmont Freeman, 19: www.a90millas.com, 21: Joseph L. Scarpaci, 24: Tom Haythornthwaite.

Para más información, contacte a: Dave Hampton, regroundllc@gmail.com; Anya Brickman Raredon, araredon@affordablehousinginstitute.org o visite www.cubatransition.org

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Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

Introducción Cuba mira al futuro: entre transición y desarrollo en la nación más escudriñada del Caribe fue un simposio a nivel ejecutivo, de intenso trabajo de un día de duración, que reunió a las personas de pensamiento más visionario acerca de los cambios que están ocurriendo en las relaciones entre Cuba y los Estados Unidos y en el impacto de estos sobre los ambientes constructivos naturales de la Isla. Las intervenciones estuvieron a cargo de profesionales líderes de Cuba y otros países, en temas de arquitectura, planificación urbana, ecología, derecho, y desarrollo de bienes raíces. Esta conferencia, en colaboración con estudiantes de la GSD, se celebró el 14 de noviembre de 2015 en el teatro William James de la Universidad de Harvard. Fue organizada por el AHI, radicado en Boston 501c3, y se centró en las políticas y el financiamiento de la vivienda en países en proceso de cambio.

Los objetivos primarios de la conferencia fueron: • •

Crear un discurso productivo, abierto y transparente acerca del futuro de Cuba.

Explorar la incidencia de los posibles efectos de la transformación sobre los ambientes constructivos y naturales, así como la manera de manejar las fuerzas del cambio para mejorar ambos escenarios.

• Facilitar la continuación de las conversaciones entre todas las partes con vista a seguir los principios de retorno, restructuración y resiliencia económica, ecológica y cultural en Cuba.

Los principales temas de discusión fueron: • • • • • • • • •

La naturaleza del cambio: su continuidad, y que avanzar implica estar atentos a/y comprender lo que se dejó atrás.

El optimismo, la confianza y la fe que coexisten con la incertidumbre.

El cambio, su origen y lo que puede traer aparejado.

Tendencias hacia las relaciones bilaterales, especialmente entre Cuba y los Estados Unidos, excluyen do a todos los demás países.

El enfoque multidisciplinario, la unión y la colaboración como modelos para el crecimiento.

Las cualidades de los cubanos: son creativos, talentosos y poseen un don natural para resolver prob lemas.

Oportunidad para el nacimiento de organizaciones de sociedad civil y gobiernos locales.

Detener la marginalización de los que sufren carencias.

Cuestionar el status quo del modelo de desarrollo internacional y la inversión.

A Cuba mira al futuro asistieron alrededor de 80 personas, entre ellas, académicos, empresarios, desarrolladores, decisores de políticas, estudiantes y ejecutores.

Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

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Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

Nota de los autores Mientras miles de cubanos se apuran hoy para solicitar el tránsito desde países extranjeros hacia los Estados Unidos, temiendo el cambio de leyes de amnistía en ese país, presentamos este informe con un nuevo sentido de urgencia y proponemos vías de implementación.

Nuestro propósito se divide en tres: primero, que el contenido actual y futuro de este documento llegue a manos de un público mayor, estadounidenses, cubano, entre otros; segundo, que Cuba mira al futuro continúe siendo un catalizador hacia un discurso productivo, abierto y transparente acerca del futuro de Cuba; y tercero, que este diálogo cree nuevas fusiones, especialmente entre aquellos que tienen la capacidad de actuar o ejercer influencia en las personas y en las políticas, para lograr resultados significativos.

Pedimos al lector que acepte el reto de alejarse de los polos de la emoción y el miedo, y se mueva hacia un nuevo lenguaje de posibilidades. Además, invitamos a reexaminar el modelo de desarrollo internacional, la especulación y la inversión extranjera, y a creer en la oportunidad de que Cuba se convierta en ejemplo de un modelo más equitativo, donde exista la participación ciudadana y el respeto al área edificada y natural. No solo se requiere optimismo e imaginación, sino que estas serán las estrategias más efectivas para un desarrollo inclusivo, equitativo y sostenible.

“La pregunta no es ¿a dónde vamos? sino ¿cómo vamos desde aquí hasta allá?”

–Miguel Coyula, Conferencia Cuba mira al futuro, noviembre 2015

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Temas y aprendizajes Durante la conferencia, los panelistas y participantes declararon sentirse afortunados de integrar tan importante intercambio acerca de la implicación que tiene la normalización de las relaciones entre Cuba y los Estados Unidos. A lo largo de esta reunión, el énfasis fundamental estuvo en lograr el equilibrio; algunos panelistas resaltaron la importancia de la educación y las iniciativas comunes de los cubanos; mientras otros destacaron la importancia de manejar cuidadosamente el nivel de desarrollo permitido en Cuba y impulsar la oportunidad de revertir los modelos de crecimiento establecidos.

Los panelistas reconocieron de forma unánime que la educación y las iniciativas provenientes de la realidad de los cubanos tendrán un desempeño vital en asegurar que se conserve la cubanía, pero no en detrimento de un desarrollo positivo, altamente necesario para los siempre luchadores cubanos. Los cubanos sufren frustraciones en torno a la escasez y los tiempos de crisis que han marcado la realidad de varias generaciones. Por consiguiente, a pesar de disfrutar del acceso generalizado a una buena educación de base, enfrentan el éxodo de la fuerza de trabajo calificada y la existencia de un limitado número de profesionales.

Los panelistas llamaron la atención sobre el peligro de la noción narcisista de que, a medida que las relaciones entre Cuba y los Estados Unidos se normalicen, y que mayor número de estadounidenses llegue al país, se comience a invertir desmesuradamente el dinero y sin regulación. Asimismo, la noción idealista generalizada hoy en Estados Unidos de “visitar Cuba antes de que cambie”, no solo es una idea precipitada, sino también ignorante. Los panelistas hicieron hincapié en que Cuba no es un destino distorsionado en el espacio-tiempo solo para el placer de visitantes del norte, concepto que promueve un preocupante neo-colonialismo. En realidad, europeos, chinos y latinoamericanos han intentado invertir en Cuba por décadas y están lógicamente frustrados por los arraigados y obstructivos procesos burocráticos con que deben negociar.

Aunque el debate evidenció la probabilidad del reto que significa el desarrollo de políticas económicas que puedan mantener en equilibrio los intereses del pueblo cubano y de los extranjeros, las conversaciones se sostuvieron en un tono optimista. Entre los temas más sobresalientes están: a) la miseria que padece la mayoría de los cubanos, b) el hecho de que muchos quieran emigrar sin esperar el tan deseado ‘cambio’; c) la polémica cuestión de la compensación de ambas partes: la nacionalización de las propiedades estadounidenses y el reclamo de Cuba por los daños producidos en 55 años de bloqueo económico. La palabra ‘transición’, utilizada por algunos organizadores en el marco de las conversaciones, sin definir a qué hacía referencia este vocablo, fue objeto de discusión, pues muchos cubanos se oponen a los estadounidenses que esperan que un cambio en las relaciones entre ambos países conlleve también una transformación significativa en la política. Durante la jornada este asunto fue aclarado y se definió ‘transición’ como el cambio de las relaciones Cuba-EE.UU., el impacto económico potencial que supone dicho cambio, así como su efecto en los ambientes constructivos y naturales de la Isla.

En general, los participantes se sintieron a gusto con el enfoque interdisciplinario de la conferencia y sugirieron que se estableciera como modelo para el futuro desarrollo del país, donde interactúen los diferentes sectores. En tanto existen aún muchos retos que enfrentar en las nuevas relaciones Cuba-EE.UU., es de vital importancia para el desarrollo de ambos países enfocarse en la manera en que fluyen entre ellos el conocimiento y la investigación. Además, quedó claro que antes de que ocurran modificaciones sustanciales en lo económico es necesario situar donde corresponde a las instituciones, los mecanismos y la información que apoyarán el desarrollo sostenible, de lo contrario será demasiado tarde.

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Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

Desde la izquierda: los panelistas Joseph Scarpaci, Miguel Coyula, Belmont Freeman.

“Hoy, he podido vivir la historia de mi país –al menos lo que le corresponde a mi tiempo, a través de la arquitectura, la planificación urbana y todos estos aspectos tan interesantes que se han discutido hoy.”

– Jorge Angulo Valdés, científico marino

La estructura del diálogo Las presentaciones y conversaciones de los panelistas en la conferencia estuvieron dirigidas a delimitar las interrogantes y los principales conceptos que se resumen aquí para situarse en contexto y hacer reflexiones adicionales.

La conferencia persiguió examinar estas agudas interrogantes, y preparar el terreno para continuar el diálogo y la acción en la cambiante dinámica entre Cuba y los Estados Unidos.

Declaración

Desde la izquierda: panelistas Jorge Angulo Valdés, Dilip da Cunha, moderador Dave Hampton.

“De las conversaciones de los científicos marinos: reconocer que el establecimiento de nuevas relaciones entre EE.UU. y Cuba y el apoyo a una nueva sociedad civil cubana, se logrará con más efectividad por los silenciosos esfuerzos de las personas de las comunidades científicas y artísticas y no por la acción del gobierno.”

– Belmont Freeman, arquitecto y planificador

La normalización de las relaciones entre Cuba-EE.UU., marcada por la apertura de las embajadas en ambos países durante el verano de 2015, es prometedora. Indica la existencia de nuevos espacios para cambio sustancial y el mejoramiento de la economía, la sociedad y la infraestructura constructiva cubana. Esta nueva movilidad traerá consigo la oportunidad de revitalizar la economía y mejorar la vida de los cubanos, así como los desafíos de cómo manejar innumerables cuestiones estructurales y transicionales y la urgencia de emplear marcos constructivos, pues las acciones que se realicen dentro de los próximos meses delinearán el futuro de Cuba por varias décadas.

Hoy Cuba es el prototipo de contextos en los cuales el cambio político tiene mayores ramificaciones en lo social, cultural, económico y ambiental (ej. Richard Nixon en la apertura a China 1972; reunificación de Alemania, ca.

1990, antiguos estados soviéticos ca. 1993, y Viet Nam ca. 2006). En cuanto a Cuba se refiere, los estudios han tendido a enfocarse en los efectos de la economía, sin considerar los impactos sobre los ambientes construidos y naturales.

Preguntas clave 1. La economía, los ambientes construidos y la ecología se influencian unos a otros, y a su vez afectan y están afectados por las regulaciones y políticas de gobierno. ¿Cómo puede Cuba encontrar una vía para lograr una isla próspera, inclusiva y sostenible, y que al mismo tiempo conserve su carácter distintivo? ¿Qué podemos hacer para ayudar a lograr esta visión?

2. ¿Qué es la transición? ¿Quién y qué considera esto una transición? ¿Hay una transición en progreso? Si es así, ¿qué está cambiando? ¿Cómo incluir el medio ambiente y el desarrollo en este cambio?

3. El impacto de los Estados Unidos: ¿Acaso la creciente normalización de las relaciones Cuba-EU.UU., y el consecuente aumento de turismo e inversiones estadounidenses, incline la balanza que mantiene en delicado equilibrio a los intereses extranjeros y su influencia en la Isla? ¿Qué rol desempeñan /deben desempeñar los expatriados cubanos? ¿Cómo estos desafíos podrían transformarse de riesgos en ventajas?

4. ¿Cómo puede Cuba convertirse en un modelo de desarrollo transicional de resiliencia para contextos futuros que entrelace los ambientes construidos y naturales? ¿Cuáles instrumentos de planificación y regulación se deberán fortalecer y ejecutar, y cuáles se introducirán para su implementación más efectiva?

5. ¿Es el modelo de desarrollo preferido o ideal simplemente una continuación del tradicional basado en los negocios, o requiere una actualización de prácticas desarrolladoras aceptadas para llegar a un paradigma más calculado, moderado y apropiado?

6. ¿Cómo se puede avanzar a pesar de que después de las elecciones de 2016 las relaciones puedan retroceder? ¿Un cambio más pausado ofrecerá resultados mejores y más equilibrados?

Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

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Resumen de la conferencia Miguel Coyula, profesor de Arquitectura y Planificación Urbana de la Universidad de La Habana Intervención: La Habana, retrato de una ciudad.

En su intervención en el simposio, Miguel Coyula brindó un panorama del área edificada de Cuba a lo largo del progreso histórico y subrayó la transformación de una ciudad que se percibe como congelada en el tiempo. Coyula señaló que las edificaciones son particularmente viejas, con el 80% de La Habana construida entre 1900 y 1958.

Y aunque “se erigió en poco tiempo y muy bien”, ahora está en deplorables condiciones: aproximadamente tres edificios se derrumban por día. Eso, junto a su rápida urbanización, resulta que las demandas de vivienda no se pueden resolver en aproximadamente 140 000 hogares de la capital (una población de 2.2 millones). En concordancia con el sistema socioeconómico cubano, no hay personas sin hogar en Cuba; más bien, las hay que viven en ‘viviendas de tránsito’.

Coyula explicó que en un complejo de apartamentos, las personas solo pueden ser propietarias de un apartamento pero no del edificio. Por lo tanto, no queda claro a quién pertenece el edificio, la actitud entonces es ‘no sé y no me importa’. Por consiguiente, no se le da mantenimiento y los espacios comunes se deterioran rápidamente.

Es característica peculiar de la Cuba de hoy, la concurrencia del área edificada y las consecuencias de la ideología socialista es de la Cuba de hoy.

Más adelante señaló que la economía cubana enfrenta retos significativos consecuentemente con un débil mercado laboral, una considerable fuga de cerebros, y una población que envejece aceleradamente. Con una estadística de cada 5 personas una con más de 65 años y un importante segmento de la población que emigra, el desafío para el futuro es cruento. Con la particularidad de la calidad de las relaciones Cuba-EE.UU., es probable un incremento del número de turistas —la Sociedad Estadounidense de Agencias de Viajes estima un crecimiento anual de 1.8 a 2 millones de visitantes en 2016—, la reapertura del mercado nacional de bienes raíces y un aumento de la inversión extranjera en dicho mercado. Si bien todo esto puede ser ventajoso para los ciudadanos cubanos, hay consecuencias negativas potenciales imprevisibles de que estos cambios puedan aumentar la existencia de zonas de pobreza o subdesarrollo. Además, a través de imágenes de espacios libres a lo largo del Malecón habanero, Coyula ilustró cómo un desarrollo excesivo y a gran escala podría ensombrecer las históricas fachadas.

“Para los estadounidenses, Cuba es como la luna para las lobos… ejerce una suerte de fascinación. Sin embargo, yo diría que la fascinación es mutua. Siempre ha existido una atracción entre nuestros países, y todo eso se refleja, o se va a reflejar pronto, con la normalización de las relaciones entre ambas naciones.”

– Miguel Coyula

Como conclusión, Coyula recordó ejemplos de proyectos de desarrollo malogrados en cualquier lugar, a partir de la siguiente máxima: “El humano es el único animal que tropieza dos veces con la misma piedra”.

Las desigualdades, inequidades y aspiraciones: edificaciones deterioradas junto a los espacios vacíos en el litoral del Malecón habanero.

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Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

Panel 1: La ecología, la cultura y las comunidades Aynel Alvarez Guerra, Socio extranjero del grupo corporativo, Brown Rudnick LLP Las bases legales para la preservación ambiental y cultural

“Gracias por remover los oxidados candados de las puertas cubanas y de crear un espacio para el diálogo que es tan, tan necesario para reveler las relaciones entre los países.”

– Aynel Alvarez Guerra

Aynel Álvarez Guerra ofreció una visión sustancial del sistema jurídico cubano, en particular con respecto a la preservación ambiental y cultural. Subrayó el progreso que ha tenido lugar en Cuba en cuanto a las relaciones económicas y de negocios, con la correspondiente obligación de operar dentro de las bases legales que funcionan tanto para proteger y promocionar el patrimonio ambiental y cultural, como fortalecer el desarrollo de las comunidades. La implementación de varias enmiendas hechas a la Constitución en 1992, requerían la emisión de leyes especiales —decretos o decretos leyes— por varios ministerios del gobierno para asegurar la protección legal del desarrollo económico sostenible desde el punto de vista ambiental y cultural. Específicamente, tales leyes establecieron medidas preventivas y de recuperación para proteger la propiedad cultural ante el desarrollo impulsado por el turismo y la inversión extranjera.

Según Álvarez Guerra, Mientras que en 2014 los presidentes Barack Obama y Raúl Castro negociaban normalización de las relaciones, la Ley de Inversión Extranjera era modificada por el gobierno cubano. Esta ley en sus propósitos incluye diversificar y expandir las exportaciones; aumentar el acceso a las tecnologías más avanzadas y sustituir las importaciones —en especial las de alimentos; permitir la financiación extranjera y la creación de empleos; desarrollar cadenas de productos y cambiar la matriz energética del país a través del uso de fuentes de energía renovable (se prevé 24 % renovable para 2030). La ley estipula quién puede invertir en Cuba, en cuáles sectores, y cómo estos inversionistas estarán sujetos a regulaciones ambientales y de otro tipo. En suma, el gobierno cubano ha dejado claro que la inversión extranjera solamente se autoriza en los casos que no comprometa la defensa del país, la seguridad, la herencia, y el ambiente. Dos de los principales aprendizajes de la presentación de Álvarez Guerra son, primero, ese lenguaje claro y directo, que hace a los ciudadanos cubanos responsables de la protección del ambiente y la herencia cultural, se ha abierto paso en los documentos rectores y, segundo, la existencia de las bases legales que los apoyan.

Con suerte, estas premisas guiarán y serán el centro de futuros diálogos acerca de “Retirar esos oxidados cerrojos de las puertas de Cuba”.

Los colores y texturas de un portón de metal en Cuba.

Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

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Jorge Alberto Angulo Valdés, profesor, Centro de Investigaciones Marinas (CIM), Universidad de La Habana La educación, la investigación y el papel de las comunidades en el manejo de las zonas costeras: una perspectiva caribeña Angulo Valdés se refirió con auténtica perspicacia a las complejidades y contradicciones de un sector que conecta los intereses cubanos y de otros países en las aguas del Caribe. Como ejemplo, señaló que Cuba toda podía considerarse una zona costera donde abundan los peces; sin embargo, se consume pescado proveniente del extranjero pues el gobierno cubano exporta el de la Isla.

En respuesta a la pregunta que Dave Hampton hizo en su introducción, “¿Qué es Cuba?”, Angulo Valdés habló de la futilidad de que los extranjeros intenten entender completamente la realidad que viven los cubanos. En particular, expresó “No aspiro a que ustedes comprenda de lo que se trata. Solo experiméntenlo. Intenten conocer a la gente. Ese es el vínculo legítimo de nuestra sociedad: la gente”.

Además, el profesor hizo hincapié en que la escasez ha moldeado y continúa dando forma a la manera de pensar de los cubanos. Cuando hay escasez de recursos, la gente busca lo barato en lugar de lo que tiene calidad. Para los cubanos es esa la realidad; y para los que viven fuera de Cuba es a menudo muy difícil cambiar esa mentalidad.

También comentó, “Tenemos que vivir riéndonos de nosotros mismos, burlándonos de nuestros propios problemas... No hay otra manera de enfrentar las carencias y las situaciones absurdas que no sea riendo.”

“Es un hecho que el océano entre los dos países, en lugar de dividirnos, nos une.”

– Jorge Angulo Valdes

Desde el punto de vista de la ecología, lo que ocurre en aguas territoriales cubanas afectará todas las islas del Caribe, incluyendo el sur de Florida. El pueblo cubano es culto e ingenioso, pero el modo de pensar colectivo ha sido moldeado en épocas de escasez y de falta de oportunidades, que afectan profundamente a todos. Los cubanos se han concentrado en los desafíos de la tierra, no del mar, pero eso está empezando a cambiar en gran parte a través de más conocimiento y de una mejor educación.

A medida que Cuba se abre la situación está cambiando, aunque ahora no sea algo evidente. El sector ambiental marino está progresando gradualmente debido al aumento de oportunidades para que emigrantes cubanos participen en iniciativas nacionales de investigación, y a las Tropas cubanas de Guardafronteras que ahora conceden más permisos para que aborden barcos de investigación en aguas territoriales, así se abren nuevas posibilidades para la colaboración.

Un coral elkhorn, una especie mundialmente deprimida, prospera con salud en aguas territoriales de Cuba.

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Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

David Guggenheim, científico marino, Ocean Doctor Orillas divididas, ecosistemas colectivos: trabajar al otro lado del Estrecho de Florida desde Helms-Burton (1996) y futuras directrices para la política ambiental David Guggenheim y Jorge Angulo Valdés han colaborado juntos por muchos años en iniciativas bilaterales Cuba-EE.UU. para la protección de los océanos y las costas. Guggenheim apoyó enfáticamente el llamado de su homólogo cubano a una mejor educación y una mayor libertad para la colaboración, especialmente en temas de intercambio científico.

Lo verdaderamente importante son los cubanos: las personas de las comunidades tienen que valorar su entorno, tener esa perspectiva que tal vez ahora no posean y estar orgullosos de los logros ambientales de Cuba.”

– David Guggenheim

Guggenheim comenzó su presentación señalando que la vida marina no tiene fronteras; las tortugas marinas, los peces, e incluso los manatíes emigran entre aguas territoriales cubanas y estadounidenses; y que analizar el desarrollo desde una perspectiva ambiental resulta un tipo de desarrollo diferente, sobretodo, cuando uno le atribuye un valor económico al ambiente. Enfatizó que debido a que Cuba tiene algunos de los ecosistemas marinos más conservados y protegidos del mundo, pues sus arrecifes de coral y los manglares están entre los más sanos del planeta, es esencial que las comunidades cubanas posean un sentido de pertenencia y responsabilidad sobre su ambiente, y se enorgullezcan de sus valores ambientales.

Guggenheim explicó cómo a través de las ciencias marinas Cuba y los Estados Unidos han interactuado durante décadas, y subrayó que este lazo entre los dos países mediante la investigación ambiental y la educación es importante y debe mantenerse y fortalecerse. Las relaciones entre Cuba y los Estados Unidos en el sector de la biología marina son quizás más fuertes, pues por muchas contradicciones que existan en nuestras relaciones diplomáticas, aún compartimos el mar y la vida marina. Iniciativas como la Sociedad para la Sustentabilidad de Cuba y EE.UU., están acercando a nuestros dos países para desarrollar principios éticos, directrices, y la mejor práctica hacia un desarrollo sostenible en la Isla. En la raíz de esto yace la noción de que para proteger el ambiente, el cambio en las relaciones entre ambos países debe llevarse a cabo cuidadosamente para evitar un estilo de desarrollo tipo Cancún.

Durante las estancias de Guggenheim en Cuba hay un tema constante: la importancia de la participación de la comunidad en la protección ambiental y el desarrollo sostenible. Educar a la nueva generación de empresarios en los principios de la sustentabilidad es de una importancia crucial.

Patrones interdependientes de peces migratorios en el Golfo de México, el Estrecho de Florida y el Océano Atlántico.

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Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo, arquitecto, fundador y director de URBAM, Universidad EAFIT El desarrollo urbano comunitario en un contexto de cambio Alejandro Echeverri habló del paralelo entre la experiencia de Medellín y La Habana, específicamente las descripciones urbanas invocadas en contextos emergentes. Además, comentó acerca de la segregación social de Medellín tan permeada de violencia, y luego cuestionó el papel del mercado en el aumento de esa conducta al exacerbar la desigualdad y crear espacios marginales.

Echeverri habló de que la ética y la inclusión son principios necesarios en el desarrollo y el diseño urbanos, en especial en contextos de transición. Con ese fin, enfatizó la importancia de sustentar el diseño en procesos holísticos y crear vínculos entre proyectos. Si la arquitectura y la infraestructura tienen sin duda un papel importante en ello, es particularmente esencial la creación de plataformas para la participación de la comunidad y las instituciones.

El diseño de los procesos debe conectarse en múltiples niveles, y las idiosincrasias, con sistemas a mayor escala.

Facilitar estas conexiones requiere el compromiso de instituciones y personas, incluyendo múltiples voces e identidades. Los procesos de diseño deben nacer de la comunidad y proporcionar el espacio para la participación pública y la mediación, el diálogo y la colaboración entre los actores. Tales espacios de compromiso y participación de la comunidad, o “infraestructura blanda”, garantizan que el diseño y los procesos de desarrollo estén en contacto con las situaciones cotidianas de la realidad donde tienen lugar.

“Hay que tener la intuición –incluso a pequeña escala– que permita el poder y la claridad para construir y desarrollar ideas.”

– Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo

Dilip da Cunha, profesor adjunto, Facultad de Diseño, Universidad de Pennsylvania Comentarista En respuesta a las cuatro presentaciones previas de los panelistas, Dilip da Cunha intentó poner todos los asuntos tratados en un mismo marco de transición. Sugirió que esta pudiera organizar y facilitar el cambio, tanto como dicho concepto representa un cambio en sí mismo. Reiterando la idea de Angulo Valdés, Cunha hizo hincapié en la necesidad de la educación en los contextos de transición. Además, subrayó la importancia de ir más allá de un enfoque de transición excesivamente bilateral; no solo es injusto, sino también erróneo, centrar las conversaciones acerca de la apertura cubana en una perspectiva enteramente estadounidense.

Da Cunha resumió las consecuencias del embargo de los Estados Unidos hacia Cuba, el cual restringe el acceso a la tecnología y los recursos; y habló de los cambios positivos que han venido ocurriendo con el tiempo, principalmente la nueva visión ambientalista. Declaró, sin embargo, que la transición como un todo no puede compararse con la transición de las partes, así como la importancia de los procesos de diseño; como resaltó Echeverri, también la transición debe considerarse como un proceso. Probablemente los cambios sean graduales y el pensamiento debe cambiar de terra firma a aqua fluxus, pues esto último puede conllevar nuevas posibilidades a la hora de analizar cómo la Isla nación podría construirse más allá de los mares.

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“Creo que hoy es muy importante mirar gran parte de los escenarios alrededor del mundo como provechosos, en lugar de dilapidados.”

– Dilip da Cunha

Debate # 1: Contradicciones y oportunidades El debate que siguió al primer panel giró en torno a las contradicciones que de diversas maneras se evidencian en Cuba; cómo en 1962 el embargo comercial de los EE.UU. amenazó el progreso futuro de la nación; cuán importante es elegir la palabra correcta cuando se habla del embargo y de una transición potencial en la relación con los EE.UU.; y el papel que desempeña el turismo en contextos anteriores y actuales. El ejemplo de la carretera a Cayo Coco facilitó la oportunidad de criticar la eficacia de las regulaciones medioambientales de Cuba, la centralización del gobierno y la falta de participación ciudadana en la toma de decisiones. Esto hizo resaltar la necesidad de superar la centralización desmesurada, la división sectorial, así como la falta de acceso a la información, de equipamiento y de profesionales bien preparados.

La carretera a Cayo Coco incidió negativamente en la ecología de la Bahía de Perros y necesitó ser rediseñada.

Los panelistas notaron que incluso después del importante compromiso de Cuba en la Cumbre de la Tierra, de Río 1992, el modelo socialista de ‘ir hacia adelante sin mirar atrás’ era todavía el enfoque de desarrollo predominante, que para algunos significó una advertencia contra la tendencia de sobreidealizar el informe ambiental presentado por Cuba. Principalmente, desde el comienzo del ‘Período especial’, el desarrollo económico ha sido prioridad del gobierno cubano, con la producción de bienes y servicios priorizados en detrimento de otros sectores. Esto viene a ser quizás un remanente de la era soviética, según declaró Miguel Coyula, “De ellos heredamos que lo que importa es la meta, no el proceso”.

“La mentalidad prevaleciente en la década de los 70 y los 80 fue: Es una orden. La meta es ir desde aquí hasta los cayos. Olvídate de lo demás. Lo demás vendrá después… Y esto es lo que heredamos de la Unión Soviética. Heredamos que lo que importa es la meta, no el proceso.”

– Miguel Coyula

Un ejemplo notable de este enfoque es un pedraplén de 27 kilómetros diseñado y autorizado por el Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología y Medio Ambiente (CITMA), hacia 1988. Se construyó para conectar tierra firme con Cayo Coco, por entonces un nuevo destino turístico. La carretera provocó la degradación de la bahía, incluyendo zonas protegidas de mangles, al limitar la entrada de agua natural proveniente del océano hacia la bahía a través de aperturas estrechas, que eventualmente necesitaron el rediseño y reparación para mitigar su impacto ambiental. Este método enfocado en el fin fue un fracaso, pues no se estudió suficientemente acerca de las corrientes y el movimiento del agua, ni se tomó en cuenta que perjudicaba los ingresos locales, principalmente de los pescadores.

Los panelistas plantearon abiertamente que las decisiones del gobierno cubano suelen ser confusas, verticalistas, sectoriales, poco transparentes y con limitada influencia ciudadana. Esto preocupa cada vez más a los gobiernos locales cuando tienen que tomar decisiones acerca del uso apropiado de la tierra, el manejo del aumento del capital, y las presiones de los intereses comerciales de desarrollo (lobby). La sociedad civil queda a menudo inmovilizada en el seno del gobierno nacional, pero a pesar de la contribución de algunas ONGs ambientalistas, la participación de los ciudadanos está limitada si se compara con otros contextos internacionales incluyendo el exbloque comunista.

Asimismo, el periodismo ecológico tan frecuente en los Estados Unidos, no existe en Cuba pues se considera opuesto a los objetivos del gobierno. Algunos panelistas se refirieron al hecho de que ni el gobierno ni la sociedad civil cuenta con los recursos para enfrentar las investigaciones pertinentes y cuando estas se realizan, siguen líneas disciplinarias estrechas que demuestran la necesidad de un mayor enfoque desde las ciencias sociales, como la sociología, la antropología, que pueden brindar más información acerca del comportamiento de las personas en relación con los recursos. Haciendo hincapié en las divisiones sectoriales, David Guggenheim describió una serie

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de sucesos sobre la Isla de la Juventud, donde algunos ministerios actuaron en contra de los objetivos del otro: la industria pesquera incurrió en la sobrepesca ilegal, amparada por la legislación oficial.

Miguel Coyula se refirió al embargo de los Estados Unidos hacia Cuba como “el dedo en la llaga”, concebido para crear dificultades al gobierno revolucionario para incitar el descontento y, en última instancia, el fracaso de la revolución. La falta de competencia técnica en el diseño de la carretera a Cayo Coco fue un fracaso de referencia de dicha política de aislamiento.

Los panelistas intercambiaron acerca de cómo el embargo ha limitado la libre circulación de ideas, el acceso a la información clave, los bienes materiales y las más nuevas tecnologías. Además, continúa siendo el obstáculo primordial para la normalización de las relaciones entre ambos países, y citaron como ejemplo el dilatado proceso para lograr un permiso especial, lo que impide la exportación de equipamiento científico desde los Estados Unidos hacia Cuba, incluso para proyectos con colaboradores estadounidenses. Desde que en 2015 Cuba fue retirada de la lista de naciones cuyos estados apoyan el terrorismo, se han visto algunos cambios, pero aún existen barreras que impiden la plena colaboración científica, entre ellas, las limitaciones que impone el gobierno cubano para autorizar a ciudadanos cubano-estadounidenses a participar en investigaciones científicas, acceder a información sobre la Isla y la prohibición por parte de instituciones académicas estadounidenses de que autores o coautores cubanos figuren en publicaciones científicas, por temor a que el gobierno de ese país del norte lo considere como exportación ilegal de propiedad intelectual.

Aunque los panelistas abogaron por retirar el inefectivo, obstructivo y obsoleto embargo, lo consideraron también como un posible freno temporal contra la inversión descontrolada y la excesiva influencia de capital foráneo en corto plazo, pues permitiría planificar la “avalancha de estadounidenses”.

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Los panelistas también se refirieron a cómo la terminología usada podía afectar los resultados de los diálogos sobre las relaciones de Cuba-EE.UU. En Cuba por ejemplo, la palabra ‘bloqueo’ es ampliamente usada en vez de ‘embargo’ y por tanto, hacer referencia al marco legal motivaría la confianza en los intercambios con los cubanos. Asimismo, se apuntó que los círculos jurídicos y académicos cubano han empezado a prepararse para un diálogo más abierto con los Estados Unidos. Aynel Álvarez Guerra explicó que muchos profesionales en Cuba quieren seguir adelante en las negociaciones y evitar las palabras que han estado causando alguna fricción en el pasado. Señaló como ejemplo, que la palabra ‘transición’ provoca fuertes reacciones entre los cubanos, y que tiene la connotación de una nación soberana forzada a aceptar ser conducida por los Estados Unidos hacia un nuevo modelo económico y político. Por consiguiente, utilizar la tal palabra podría causar problemas, pues Cuba ha indicado claramente la convicción de continuar leal al modelo socialista.

El panel analizó el impacto que podía tener el turismo en la protección de los ambientes marinos. Las respuestas de los panelistas se extendieron desde un optimismo cauteloso a grandes esperanzas en una transformación verdadera, y tomaron como referencia el hiperdesarrollo de Cancún, México, para ilustrar “el consumo que el turismo representa”, el que debe ser evitado a toda costa.

Se sugirió también que el verdadero ecoturismo, donde las comunidades locales tienen poder y obtienen beneficios legítimos, podría reforzar un cambio radical de paradigma, de un escenario destructivo a uno productivo. Consideraron que Cuba tiene la oportunidad de cambiar el status quo del urbanismo y el desarrollo y posicionarse en la arena mundial como punto de partida para la transformación del ambiente global. Como David Guggenheim expresó, “las personas, los turistas, están deseosos de pagar un plus por una experiencia genuina. Cuba es auténtica sin lugar a dudas y esto se puede vender sin tener que convertirse en una caricatura, como sucede en otros destinos turísticos del mundo”.

Cuba mira al futuro: 2015 Resumen de la Conferencia

Panel 2: Área edificada y vivienda. Enrumbar la inversión Gabriel Fuentes, arquitecto, DA|S Gabinete de diseño en acción para la investigación, la arquitectura y el urbanismo Historia y modernidad: la transición en la arquitectura cubana Gabriel Fuentes habló de cómo la arquitectura refleja los contextos históricos y socioculturales y se centró en la transición. Haciéndose eco de la anterior preocupación de Coyula, criticó el tono de nostalgia invocado en muchas de las conversaciones acerca de la transición, que idealiza la falsa noción de una ciudad congelada en el tiempo. En lugar de aceptar esta asociación de la cultura cubana con lo estático, el contexto de transición constituye la oportunidad de aceptar el cambio social, económico y cultural sin repetir los errores cometidos en el pasado.

“Quiero oponerme al cliché: La Habana es una ciudad congelada en el tiempo. Claro que lo es de alguna manera. A la misma vez, decir que una ciudad está congelada en el tiempo es contraproducente a la forma en que las ciudades funcionan realmente. Las ciudades evolucionan, tienen que avanzar, respirar, tienen que cambiar.”

– Gabriel Fuentes

Para mostrar que la metáfora de una ciudad atemporal no refleja en realidad el funcionamiento de una ciudad, Fuentes condujo al público a través de un viaje fotográfico acerca de la variación y la evolución de la arquitectura cubana, en particular desde los años 30 hasta 1959, cuyos estilos estuvieron influenciados por el contexto social, cultural, económico y ambiental de su tiempo, en correspondencia con el lugar y el momento. Analizó las influencias de los estilos Moderno e Internacional y del diseño Art Deco, Beaux Arts, y Art Nouveau de muchas casas cubanas construidas en la primera mitad del siglo XX. Fuentes enfatizó en la manera en que los arquitectos buscaron lo cubano en lugar de reproducir sus diseños partiendo de la falsa percepción de una cultura monolítica, estática e importada.

Los ejemplos de Fuentes delimitaron los conceptos de forma, estilo, y lugar y su interrelación en la estructura urbana de La Habana. La forma es maleable y fluida y responde a una condición social o climática especial. El cambio es inevitable y no necesariamente representa la pérdida de la cultura, la tradición y la identidad. El actual contexto de transición requiere de una atención esmerada a la función del diseño y el lugar para crear una arquitectura que mantenga en armonía la fluidez de la forma y la cultura, con la realidad ambiental, la necesidad social, y la esencia de lo cubano. Recurriendo a las tres P de la arquitectura cubana, según Eugenio Batista, patio, portal, y persianas, sugirió cinco elementos de edificio de transición que también caracterizan los componentes tradicionales de la casa cubana, y cómo los mejores arquitectos cubanos mezclaron diseños de estilos importados con la tradición local, el clima, y los materiales de construcción.

Polaridades convergentes, una estética tradicional no comprometida y una salida radical o la tendencia modernista de ‘empezar desde cero’, ‘algo totalmente nuevo’, para llegar a algo más inherentemente cubano.

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David Smith, fundador y director ejecutivo, Affordable Housing Institute (Instituto de Vivienda Asequible) El contexto mundial: la interacción de las finanzas públicas y privadas con el área edificada y la vivienda en proceso de transición David Smith mostró una perspectiva única de las potencialidades del desarrollo en Cuba. Acorde con sus experiencias en más de treinta países del mundo, advirtió sobre la desigual carrera entre el dinero y los intereses en el desarrollo, la tierra y la protección ambiental. Smith explicó que históricamente los pequeños préstamos para el desarrollo se han convertido en enormes tsunamis, pensemos en Cancún. Habló de la importancia de reconciliar de manera sostenible y equitativa tres aspectos desestabilizadores esenciales o fuerzas opuestas: (1) la economía agrícola y la protección ambiental, (2) la infraestructura formal e informal y (3) los intereses públicos y privados.

Smith advirtió que una fuerte economía agrícola a menudo significa que una transición se convierta en vía de obtención de valores para una élite, donde los intereses privados prevalecen sobre los públicos. Si bien ello es una lección clave aprendida de otros desarrollos fallidos, no quiere decir que todo desarrollo debe ser frustrado. La cambiante relación Cuba-EE.UU. podría ser una oportunidad de regenerar el ambiente urbano tan necesario en muchas áreas de La Habana. La ciudad está descapitalizada.

La visión idealista que se tiene de Cuba como un portal a la historia es polémica, pues encubre y distorsiona la verdadera pobreza y la falta de oportunidades. La distensión en las relaciones entre Cuba y los EE.UU. tiene el potencial para abrirle las puertas a la educación cubana, el emprenderismo y el crecimiento en muchas otras maneras, pero solo si la ‘apertura’ logra evitar la tragedia de un desarrollo tradicional.

“La pobreza es fotogénica. La pobreza es romántica. Pero usted no ve las fotografías de la escasez y la escasez es la realidad.”

– David Smith

Adolfo Garcia, socio, Brown Rudnick LLP Las demandas del desarrollo: un negocio complejo Adolfo Garcia brindó una reflexión única sobre las relaciones de Cuba y los EE.UU. desde una visión tanto profesional como personal, pues nació en Cuba y partió muy joven hacia los EE.UU. García compartió sus experiencias derivadas de las opiniones de cubano-estadounidenses de múltiples generaciones que ha conocido, sobre todo las diversas posturas acerca de los pros y los contras del régimen de Castro. En oposición a la perspectiva de la generación de su madre, opina que la normalización de las relaciones Cuba-EE.UU. brinda una nueva oportunidad de futuro que no debemos desperdiciar. Sin embargo, esto no quiere decir que la apertura deba ser inmediata y total; aún hay muchas preguntas que formular: ¿cómo llegaremos al futuro? Además, ¿acaso son las leyes de los EE.UU. la mayor limitación?

García recordó que los cubanos tienen buena memoria y el diferendo permanece en su modo de pensar. También están los efectos de una sociedad cerrada, por ejemplo, el déficit de profesionales homólogos cubanos preparados para las negociaciones internacionales. Un salto contundente en la preparación y la educación ayudará, pero no inmediatamente. El cambio será gradual, en verdad tiene que ser así, y con la interacción y la experiencia de ambos lados.

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“Retirar el embargo desencadenará una fuerza que irá más allá del control de un gobierno totalitario y dictatorial.”

– Adolfo Garcia

Joseph L. Scarpaci, director ejecutivo, Centro de Estudios de la Economía y la Cultura Cubana Cuba mira al futuro: la función de la planificación con una concepción regional Durante toda su carrera, Joseph L Scarpaci ha cerrado la brecha entre la cultura cubana y la estadounidense a través de la Academia y la investigación de campo. Su conocimiento de Cuba y de otras culturas latinoamericanas lo han acercado a muchos proyectos de desarrollo fallidos, lo que ha facilitado su comprensión del hecho de que enfoques convencionales para el desarrollo no funcionarán si no ocurren cambios estructurales. La concepción estadounidense de una transición drástica en Cuba como consecuencia de la normalización en las relaciones entre los dos países, es en gran parte incorrecta, pues otros extranjeros han estado tratando de invertir en Cuba durante años sin lograrlo. Llamó la atención sobre ello cuando declaró, “No hay transición; es solo un escollo en el camino”.

“Algo que tenemos que incorporar a nuestro lenguaje es que el cambio tiene que venir desde dentro.”

– Joseph Scarpaci

Como experto en desarrollo, Scarpaci recordó a la audiencia los obstáculos internos que se oponen al cambio en Cuba, por ejemplo la falta de transparencia y los procesos de aprobación verticalistas para la inversión extranjera.

Por supuesto, debido a que los desarrolladores y los grandes inversionistas generalmente encuentran la manera de evadir dichos obstáculos, es necesario promover un tipo de desarrollo diferente.

Scarpaci sugirió que el cambio necesita ser y será desde adentro, una vez que se alcance el equilibrio entre las necesidades de los locales y el turismo, en el cual Cuba contará con una base fiscal para financiar las renovaciones necesarias como el agua y la infraestructura de saneamiento, las inversiones en la educación y los programas de formación en las artes tradicionales y los oficios. Este enfoque, unido al aumento de las remesas provenientes de expatriados o familiares cubanos podría promover el desarrollo sostenible en Cuba, y con suerte evitaría la “Disneyficación” o desarrollo al estilo de Cancún.

¿Qué usted ve en esta fotografía? Pobreza, subsistencia… y una economía emergente.

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Belmont Freeman, director de Arquitectos Belmont Freeman Comentarista Dando continuidad a las conversaciones acerca del cambio en las relaciones Cuba-EE.UU., Belmont Freeman sugirió prudencia para no ser presa fácil de cuatro perspectivas dominantes. Primero, reiterando la idea anteriormente expuesta por José Scarpaci, él se cuestiona la actitud narcisista de muchos estadounidenses que creen que el hecho de que se retire el embargo y de que Cuba se abra a la inversión cambiará excepcionalmente a ese país, para bien o para mal. Es importante reconocer que los Estados Unidos no es el primero que busca invertir en Cuba; personas individuales y entidades de otras naciones han estado tratando por décadas de entrar en el mercado cubano y han encontrado una burocracia rígida y un gran control sobre toda actividad económica dentro del país.

Segundo, ripostó la visión de antiurbanización y antimodernización a través de la cual los estadounidenses ven el fantasma del cambio en Cuba. Esto refleja las opiniones expresadas por Miguel Coyula, David Smith y Gabriel Fuentes en cuanto al peligro de idealizar una Cuba atemporal que puede verse arruinada por la transición. Freeman manifestó desacuerdo con el “ignorante mantra” de estadounidenses que dicen que quieren visitar Cuba antes de que cambie. En vez de sentir ese ignorante temor al cambio, sostuvo que este constituye una necesidad para la supervivencia de los cubanos. Continuar defendiendo la estética de la atemporalidad oculta las muy reales privaciones de la vida cotidiana de los cubanos y pasa por alto su ingeniosidad. Para ilustrar este punto, Belmont planteó el ejemplo de la construcción no profesional de las viviendas, que en ocasiones consiste en reestructurar las casas de antes del 59 para satisfacer cobijo a un mayor número de familias, no previstas por el diseño original.

“La Revolución ha tenido cierta tendencia antiurbana, en que ha favorecido el desarrollo y la erradicación de la pobreza en el medio rural, que es donde esta existía en mayor concentración antes de la Revolución. Ese es indudablemente un objetivo loable, pero ha ocurrido en detrimento de las ciudades de Cuba.”

– Belmont Freeman

En tercer lugar, como parte de esta idealización, hay a menudo un enfoque limitado de actividades dentro de La Habana Vieja y de su preservación. Aunque es un aspecto incuestionablemente importante de la herencia cultural de Cuba, la atención que se le presta a esta zona ocurre en detrimento de la mayor parte de la capital; y en cuarto lugar, aunque los cubanos ya están haciendo transformaciones, independientemente de cualquier cambio en las relaciones con los Estados Unidos, sería imprudente ignorar la magnitud del desafío que significa el desarrollo, en particular si se quieren evitar los escollos y riesgos de un desarrollo desmedido que anteriormente otros panelistas mencionaron.

Las ruinas del Hotel Packard de La Habana, un eterno candidato favorito para la reurbanización, escogido para ser remodelado por Bouygues, un desarrollador francés.

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Debate # 2: El flujo de capital y las instituciones

Ejemplo de paladar, o restaurante en una casa particular. Los paladares son populares entre los turistas y son además una vía de resiliencia económica para un sector de pequeños empresarios cubanos en crecimiento.

“La regulación del capital en los bajos niveles aventajará la regulación formalizada del capital, mientras los cruceros averiguan en qué bahía atracar.”

– David Smith

La segunda sesión de conversaciones se centró en temas similares a los del primer debate, pero con un enfoque más concreto sobre el área edificada y la naturaleza del desarrollo residencial y comercial de la Isla. Los panelistas, respondiendo a comentarios sobre los desafíos ante la extrema centralización del gobierno cubano, se concentraron en identificar y articular tantos cambios como sistemas existentes dentro de Cuba. Uno de los participantes planteó la idea de “las remesas como un vehículo para el desarrollo global”, incitando la discusión sobre cómo ese dinero podría inyectar a un futuro sector privado más amplio, dinámico y equitativo más allá de la capital, las posibilidades de una economía cooperativa y de equidad colectiva, y la función de las pequeñas y medianas empresas, así como la formación de los profesionales. Sin embargo, Miguel Coyula mencionó que el origen y destino de las remesas tienden a favorecer a los blancos de la ciudad, lo que conmina a los negros o a los residentes de zonas rurales a buscar otras fuentes de capital; sugiriendo con ello que “se está creando una gran desigualdad racial...”

Los panelistas comentaron que el gobierno cubano parece estar reacio a reconocer la función y los efectos de los actores no estatales y locales, y considera los grandes negocios como la única solución, cuando a decir verdad el uso de las remesas enviadas por los emigrados cubanos está cambiando, desde simplemente respaldar a los familiares, hasta apoyarlos en invertir en propiedades o pequeñas empresas, para beneficio de ambos. Por ejemplo, desde el ascenso de Raúl Castro a la presidencia, en los paladares, los populares restaurantes montados en las casas y que son cada vez más rentables, es permitido contratar trabajadores no pertenecientes a la familia y contar con capacidad para hasta 50 comensales. Estos pequeños negocios, a menudo promocionados en Internet por sus propietarios y ambientados por diseñadores de interiores, son cada vez más sofisticados y representan gran competencia para los restaurantes estatales y las ofertas de hoteles, que no alcanzan para alojar al creciente número de turistas o brindar un servicio culinario comparablemente agradable.

Además, se señaló que la falta de regulación del capital a nivel institucional y de gobierno destaca el grado de regulación existente en la unidad más fundamental de confianza: la familia. Tales niveles altos de fraternidad crean tierra fértil para las economías cooperativas. Citando al próspero modelo de cooperativas quasi agrícolas de China, los participantes sugirieron que la formación de cooperativas en Cuba pudiera activarse particularmente para los edificios de vivienda. En tal escenario, los residentes del edificio tendrían la propiedad de las áreas comunes, escaleras, vestíbulos y otros, para así poder enfrentar la falta de inversión, mejorar el mantenimiento del edificio y extender la vida del mismo. Este modelo también ofrecería más protección individual que las leyes de condominio, y crearía las oportunidades para que la riqueza crezca en torno a los valores de bienes raíces.

El control extremo sobre el trabajo profesional despuntó como un importante impedimento para el desarrollo. El arquitecto y planificador Miguel Coyula se hizo eco de su preocupación anterior sobre la disminución del desempeño de los arquitectos de la comunidad al de meros burócratas, en vez de profesionales activos. Destacó que no son vistos como un “motor que acelera el proceso o dinamiza la pequeña empresa urbana”, sin embargo, según su opinión, crece su participación en el mejoramiento de las viviendas y de las empresas, tales como los paladares mencionados anteriormente, aún cuando a menudo deben trabajar por la izquierda. Belmont Freeman insistió en que los diseñadores participen en la planificación según las reglas de zonificación para determinar dónde se podrían establecer restaurantes, y cómo otros edificios y casas podrían modificarse para nuevos usos. Según Gabriel Fuentes, “Avanzar implica poner atención a/y comprender lo que dejamos detrás.”

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Debate de clausura: Desde las dualidades y privaciones hacia las oportunidades “Cuba es un país lleno de contradicciones.” - Jorge Angulo Valdés “Nada en Cuba es seguro a menos que ya esté en el pasado.” - David Guggenheim Estas frases de dos científicos marinos que por más de una década han trabajado en conjunto de un lado a otro del océano, entre dos países en pugna, resumen acertadamente el debate final de la conferencia. Con la participación de doce panelistas, este se centró en un plan de avanzada e intentó responder a la interrogante de cómo Cuba debe hacer frente a la oleada de inversión extranjera y los intereses especiales en el camino hacia el desarrollo equitativo en un inestable territorio de contradicciones.

Optimismo, confianza y fe son los sentimientos compartidos con respecto de la naturaleza del cambio y sus consecuencias. Con tono de esperanza sobre las futuras posibilidades en las nuevas relaciones entre los EE.UU. y Cuba, los participantes se refirieron a discusiones anteriores para establecer el debate a propósito de alertar contra las tendencias de ver a Cuba como un lugar atrapado en ámbar, – un temor no infundado si se compara con la influencia, especialmente estadounidense en el Caribe –, o como un país que debe ser cambiado desde el exterior.

Dilip da Cunha señaló que durante los diálogos hubo una tendencia generalizada hacia el bilateralismo, dualidades que requieren acciones equilibradas para avanzar, y se cuestionaban si los EE.UU. y Cuba son los únicos actores a considerar entre todos los demás. La cuestión resultó de la pregunta si la solución para la compensación de las propiedades nacionalizadas de los Estados Unidos, o —la exigencia de Cuba para la indemnización por los daños económicos provocados por el embargo—, podría frustrar la inversión extranjera de otros países además de los Estados Unidos. Asimismo, Joseph Scarpaci hizo hincapié en la ausencia de matices en el discurso dentro de Cuba y opinó que era demasiado dicotómico.

Jorge Angulo Valdés y David Guggenheim han mantenido una próspera sociedad científica de un lado y otro del océano y son ejemplo de un modelo para la futura colaboración.

“Cuba no existe como una distorsión del espacio-tiempo para que los turistas del norte tengan el placer de visitarla.”

– Belmont Freeman

La emoción inherente a las posibilidades de normalizar las relaciones estuvo frenada por el miedo al cambio, algo a lo que hay que temer pues es un obstáculo. Se analizó si el embargo, sin incluir los artículos básicos, las tecnologías y las personas, era una limitante, o un facilitador de algo más que según Adolfo Garcia, pudiera “... provocar que se desencadene una fuerza que superará el control de un gobierno totalitario y dictatorial.” De igual manera, David Guggenheim habló del impacto potencial que podría sufrir el ambiente por la presencia de un mayor número de turistas, pues “es irónico que los Estados Unidos representen una amenaza mayor para Cuba en calidad de “amigo” que como enemigo.” La oportunidad puede ser ambigua.

Numerosos elogios recibió la conferencia por su naturaleza cautelosamente optimista y la oportunidad para que múltiples voces, procedencias, experiencias y disciplinas dialogaran sobre temas tan importantes. Gabriel Fuentes comentó “La idea de haber podido tener un panel así me sorprendió.” David Guggenheim también destacó que “era improbable que este grupo se juntara y hablara una misma lengua de amor, respeto y humildad hacia una gran pequeña isla”. Tomando la conferencia como modelo, los participantes hicieron hincapié en la importancia de construir sociedades colectivas, usar enfoques interdisciplinarios y promover la colaboración dentro de y con Cuba para aplicar modelos de otras partes, así como reconocer que el cambio ya está ocurriendo.

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Participantes en la conferencia Cuba mira al futuro.

Joseph Scarpaci caracterizó a los cubanos como “creativos, talentosos e innatos solucionadores de problemas.”

Citando las leyes ambientales y de inversión extranjeras más fuertes de Cuba, David Guggenheim dijo “Cuba escogió el momento perfecto para no jugar a Follow the Leader”, y continuó resaltando el valor de la buena educación de las personas, y el grado de corrupción relativamente bajo de Cuba al nivel de gobierno, en comparación con otras naciones caribeñas.

Exclusión y marginalización: ¿a quién mantendrá fuera una cerca levantada alrededor de una fuente restaurada en una plaza de la Habana Vieja en nombre de la estética?

“Cuba es inexcusablemente auténtica y eso es algo que se puede vender sin tener que convertirse en una caricatura como otros destinos turísticos del mundo.”

– David Guggenheim

Varias veces se enfatizó la alta preparación de los profesionales cubanos, y en particular las posibilidades que brindan los procesos de diseño para activar la imaginación, la proyección y el emprendurismo. Belmont Freeman sugirió que el diseño de una secuencia favorable de cambios debe tener un enfoque proactivo en lugar de reactivo y provisional, típico del gobierno nacional. ¿Podría una mayor participación del arquitecto de la comunidad y de otros profesionales en equipos igualmente inclusivos llevar a cabo las ideas de diseño para crear un lugar para las organizaciones de la nueva sociedad civil y los gobiernos municipales? Tomando como referencia la reciente celebración de talleres sobre la reurbanización holística de La Habana, con la participación de grupos multidisciplinarios de ciudadanos comunes, artesanos y profesionales, se sugirió que este enfoque podría empezar a abordar las brechas de capacitación en la estructura de gobierno muy similar al muy pesado, opaco, y burocrático gobierno nacional y los individuos, con vista a abordar la compleja planificación, infraestructura, desafíos económicos y ambientales que enfrentan las ciudades cubanas.

Los participantes retomaron el asunto de la terminología, sugiriendo que si el vocabulario utilizado para hablar de la Cuba de hoy está cargado de significado negativo, ya sea ‘embargo’, ‘bloqueo’, ‘transición’, y esto por lo tanto limita las posibilidades de diálogo, entonces ¿por qué no cambiarlo? Dilip da Cunha sugirió “concentrarse en lo que se aleje de la distracción de los extremos…”, incluyendo posibilidades de un escenario productivo al que puedan contribuir los que visiten, en lugar de solo consumir.

En última instancia, aunque la conferencia no se concentró en eso específicamente, se hizo un llamado a poner atención en las privaciones que enfrentan los cubanos, los años de crisis y la escasez, su permanencia al margen de un mundo interconectado, así como su vulnerabilidad en el aumento de la inequidad socioeconómica. Cuando el cambio ocurra, se debe reconocer a quién se está excluyendo o marginalizando y quien se beneficia del cambio, tanto dentro y fuera de la isla.

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Panelistas Aynel Álvarez Guerra (panelista) Aynel Álverez Guerra es socio extranjero del grupo corporativo en Brown Rudnick. Su experiencia incluye fusiones y compras, así como gobiernos corporativos con especial atención al trabajo transaccional extraterritorial y multiterritorial. Ha brindado servicios sin cobrar a entidades no lucrativas de Boston. Antes de su salida de Cuba en 2007, para continuar una formación jurídica internacional, Aynel trabajó como asesor jurídico en el Ministerio de Relaciones Extranjeras donde asesoró sobre asuntos legales multilaterales y bilaterales. Se especializó en temas como la inmunidad soberana, empresas estatales en litigio internacional y arbitraje. Como miembro del Grupo de Profesionales de Latinoamérica de su firma, Aynel también forma parte de la Iniciativa Cuba que tiene como objetivo ayudar a los clientes en las transacciones y temas relacionados con Cuba.

Jorge Angulo Valdés (panelista) Jorge Alberto Angulo Valdés es un profesor a tiempo completo en el Centro de Investigaciones Marinas (CIM) de la Universidad de La Habana y profesor investigador visitante en la Facultad de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales (SNRE) de la Universidad de Florida. Fue director del CIM-UH y director del Centro Operacional del Instituto Internacional de los Océanos en Cuba. Actualmente preside el grupo de protección del ambiente marino en el Centro. Sus intereses de investigación incluyen la eficiencia de las áreas marinas protegidas, la ecología de peces de arrecife, los manatíes y los tiburones, la protección de los recursos naturales y la economía ambiental. Ha publicado más de 30 trabajos y algunos capítulos de libro acerca de sus áreas de investigación. Ha conducido proyectos de investigación financiados por agencias internacionales como el Instituto Internacional para el Desarrollo de la Investigación, Canadá; Whitley Fund for Nature, Reino Unido; y Sea to Shore Alliance, Estados Unidos.

Miguel Coyula (orador principal) Miguel Coyula es un arquitecto, urbanista, catedrático en la Universidad de La Habana y conferencista internacional. Es graduado de Arquitectura en el Instituto Superior Politécnico de La Habana y ha descrito la arquitectura cubana desde la época colonial. Dese 1971 hasta 1990, Coyula trabajó en el Ministerio de la Construcción, primero como investigador y después como especialista en el departamento de Relaciones Internacionales. Dese 1990 hasta su jubilación en 2012, trabajó en el Grupo para el Desarrollo Integrado de la Capital (GDIC), donde asesoraba al gobierno de la Habana en asuntos de desarrollo urbano. Desde 2001 Coyula ha dictado conferencias en más de veinte universidades e instituciones de investigación en toda América Latina, los EE.UU. y Europa, y se ha desempeñado como profesor invitado en la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de Ciudad de México. Trabaja como consultante en la ONG Cubasolar que promueve el uso de la energía renovable y es miembro de La Unión de Autores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC).

Dilip Da Cunha (panelista) Dilip Da Cunha es un arquitecto y planificador, catedrático adjunto en la Facultad de Diseño de la Universidad de Pennsylvania y conferencista en GSD. Ha escrito algunos libros en colaboración con AnuradhaMathur. Más recientemente han coeditado un libro titulado Design in the Terrai. Un tema subyacente en el trabajo de Mathur y da Cunha es su preocupación de cómo se visualiza y se utiliza el agua, resultando en condiciones de exceso y escasez, pero también las oportunidades que su fluidez brinda a nuevas visualizaciones del terreno, diseños imaginativos y su práctica. Actualmente, trabajan en un proyecto de nombre provisional La invención de los ríos, que basa de cuestionar el estado natural que se atribuye a los ríos y la imagen e imaginario que esta suposición ha inspirado. Lejos de ser entidades naturales, ellos argumentan que los ríos son producto de una mirada culta que beneficia al agua en un momento dado del ciclo hidrológico, cuando aparece contenible y controlable. A través de la alternativa de un terreno de lluvia, —la apreciación del agua por todas partes antes de que esté en algún lugar—, investigan otra manera de diseño y la planificación.

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Panelistas Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo (panelista) Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo es un arquitecto colombiano nacido en Medellín que cree en la responsabilidad ética de los diseñadores para colaborar en una mejor sociedad. Su atención principal ha estado sobre territorios emergentes caracterizados por la informalidad, la exclusión, la inequidad y la inestabilidad. Ha dirigido equipos multidisciplinarios en proyectos arquitectónicos o urbanos que son el nodo central para el desarrollo social y territorial de un ecosistema flexible y holístico.

Con ese fin ha desarrollado conexiones con gobierno, instituciones cívicas y comunidades. El distintivo de su trabajo es la innovación y la creatividad y el diseño como un proceso continuo de aprendizaje. Desde 2010, ha sido el fundador y el director de URBAM, el Centro de Estudios Urbanísticos y Ambientales de la Universidad colombiana de EAFIT. URBAM ahonda en los asuntos urbanos, ambientales y sociales de países en vía de desarrollo, particularmente aquellos con estructuras políticas e institucionales débiles.

Belmont Freeman (panelista) Freeman de Belmont, FAIA, es director de Belmon Freeeman Architectos, una premiada firma de diseño de la ciudad de Nueva York fundada por él en 1986. Se graduó en la Universidad de Yale y es Máster en Arquitectura de la Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de la Universidad de Pennsylvania. Además, Belmont es profesor adjunto de la Escuela Superior de Arquitectura, Planificación, Conservación de la Universidad de Columbia. De 1997 a 2008 fue presidente de Storefront for Art & Architecture, galería de diseño sin fines de lucro de la ciudad de Nueva York. Trabajó en el gabinete de Gobernadores de la Asociación de Alumnos de Yale y el Buró de Directores de la Sociedad de Historiadores Arquitectos. Estadounidense de ascendencia cubana, Belmont ha realizado una investigación extensiva, escribiendo y dictando conferencias sobre arquitectura cubana y ha guiado numerosas excursiones por Cuba. En Storefront for Art and Architecture en 2004 coprodujo la importante exposición “Arquitectura y Revolución en Cuba, 1959-1969”, donde examinó el diseño de vanguardia producido en Cuba durante la primera fase heroica de la revolución.

Gabriel Fuentes (panelista) Gabriel Fuentes es fundador y director de DA|SD Action Studio for Research, Architecture + Urbanism, y se desempeña como profesor adjunto en la Facultad de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Marywood. Se graduó de Arquitectura en la Universidad Internacional de Florida, y de Diseño Urbanístico en la Universidad de Columbia. Además es graduado de Historia de la Arquitectura, Teoría y Criticismo de la Universidad Internacional de Florida. Su trabajo como diseñador, escritor y educador es ampliamente reconocido. Ha presentado su investigación dentro y fuera del país, incluida conferencia Futuros de Cuba en 2011. Publicó un capítulo de libro sobre la arquitectura moderna cubana.

Adolfo García (panelista) Adolfo Garcia es socio de Brown Rudnick y enfoca su práctica en la arena internacional y corporativa. Posee vasta experiencia en el manejo de las transacciones corporativas y de negocio, incluidos el financiamiento, las acciones privadas, la seguridad, las fusiones y compras, las empresas mixtas, las inversiones, restructuraciones y acuerdos contractuales en los Estados Unidos y otras partes del mundo. Adolfo también representa a clientes no-estadounidenses establecidos en los EE.UU. y/o con asuntos legales en los EE.UU. Ha consagrado buena parte de sus 41 años de ejercicio a varios tipos de situaciones relacionadas con empresas internacionales en otros países. Adolfo entiende profundamente las relaciones entre Cuba y EE.UU. Su experiencia personal como cubano exiliado a los 12 años, aparejado a su conocimiento de las leyes y las regulaciones de los EE.UU. hacia Cuba, lo acreditan como asesor de compañías estadounidenses y extranjeras, en temas que involucran a Cuba, en una nueva era de relaciones entre ambos países.

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Panelistas Dr. David Guggenheim (panelista) Dr. David E Guggenheim es un científico marino, especialista en políticas de conservación ambiental, piloto de submarino, explorador de océanos y educador. Es presidente y fundador de la organización no lucrativa Ocean Doctor con residencia en Washington, D.C. Dirige ‘Conservación de Cuba’, un programa de Ocean Doctor, y por 15 años ha estado liderando la investigación para la conservación del ambiente en Cuba, principalmente de los arrecifes de coral y las tortugas marinas en un esfuerzo mancomunado con la universidad de La Habana. David dirigió la creación de la Iniciativa Trinational para la Ciencia Marina y la Protección del Ambiente entre Cuba, México y los EE.UU. Tiene un Doctorado en Ciencia Ambiental y Política Pública de la Universidad de George Mason, un Máster Acuícola y Poblacional de la Universidad de California, Santa Bárbara, y un Máster en Ciencia Regional de la Universidad de Pennsylvania.

José L Scarpaci (panelista) José L Scarpaci (Ph.D, Florida) es Director Ejecutivo del Centro para el Estudio de la Cultura Cubana y la Economía. Es Profesor Emérito en Virginia Tech donde fue profesor de Planificación Urbana, Estudios sobre Latinoamérica, Salud y Política Social, Desarrollo Internacional y Mercadotecnia. Durante sus 76 viajes a Cuba, ha llevado a más de 800 estadounidenses a la Isla, incluidos un número de estudiantes en 15 viajes de estudio en el extranjero. Su investigación actual revisa el comportamiento del consumidor y las marcas icónicas en países socialistas, Latinoamérica y Escandinavia, y fue financiado por la beca Madame Marie Curie de COFUND de la Universidad de Aarhus, de la Unión Europea.

David Smith (panelista) David Smith es fundador y director ejecutivo del Affordable Housing Institute (Instituto de Vivienda Asequible), que desarrolla los ecosistemas financieros para la vivienda sostenible en el mundo. Con 30 años de experiencia directa en Vivienda Asequible, David combina excepcionalmente, el rol de actuante y teórico, y participante y hacedor de políticas. Su labor como consultante desarrollador de programas de políticas financieras para la vivienda incluye proyectos en Brasil, Colombia, Egipto, India, Irlanda, Kenia, Medio Oriente Panamá, Sri Lanka, Sudáfrica, Turquía, y Reino Unido, y es uno de los más populares conferencistas en el tema de vivienda de bajo costo del mundo. Se graduó en Harvard en 1975. Es un escritor premiado, con con más de 200 artículos publicados acerca los bienes raíces, la tasación, así como en publicaciones de política, un libro de texto y un influyente blog. David es también fundador y presidente de Consejeros de RECAP Bienes Raíces (antes CASFAS, y antes de eso, Advisors), una firma radicada en Boston que se especializa en problemas complejos de viviendas multifamiliar, con un activo desempeño en el financiamiento de Vivienda Asequible.

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Organizadores Sandra Bonito (organizadora) Sandra Bonito es una estudiente del programa de Máster en Arquitectura en la GSD. Nació y se crió en Cuba y llegó a los EE.UU. a la edad de 20 años. Antes de entrar en la GSD, Sandra trabajó en Marvel Architects en la Ciudad de Nueva York y en Ram-Tech Construction en Miami, Florida. Sus intereses son el espacio público, el nuevo urbanismo, la arquitectura latinoamericana y la planificación. Sandra culminó sus estudios de técnico medio en Arquitectura en el Colegio de Miami Dade con el premio al mejor estudiante del año en 2009. Se graduó con los más altos honores y Distinción. Sandra terminó sus estudios superiores de Arquitectura en la Universidad de Columbia con Diploma de Oro y Honores del Departamento de Arquitectura. Durante sus estudios de pregrado, Sandra examinó a través del diseño y la investigación, la construcción futura de La Habana y persigue continuar explorando sus horizontes. Sandra es beneficiaria de la Beca Mas Family, una iniciativa de la Fundación por la Libertad Jorge Mas Canosa, cuyo propósito es “Promover la educación de jóvenes talentosos cubanos y cubano-estadounidenses” y promueve las ideas de libertad y democracia.

Anya Brickman Raredon (moderador y organizadora) El interés de Anya Brickman Raredon en cómo el espacio físico refleja e influencia el discurso social emergió de sus estudios sobre planificación urbana, arquitectura, antropología y danza. Como directora del Instituto de Vivienda de Bajo Costo, Anya dirige el trabajo de formalización y reurbanización de asentamientos informales y áreas urbanas posdesastre. Ha liderado proyectos en Ulanbaatar, Mongolia; Port-au-Prince, Haití; y África Subsahariana, así como las iniciativas de investigación del Instituto acerca de las ciudades instantáneas y la vivienda en Cuba. Desde enero de 2010 ha trabajado en el desarrollo de la reconstrucción de la comunidad y las estrategias de desarrollo para Port-au-Prince, a través de una asociación con el Centro de Urbanismo Avanzado del Instituto Tecnológico de Massachusetts (MIT), el Laboratorio de Innovadores Comunitarios del MIT (CoLab), GSD y Oxfam América. Anya recibió el grado de Máster de MIT en Urbanismo en 2011, y su tesis “La oportunidad en Haití: la mujer como agente de la resiliencia” fue divulgada en el Libro de Referencia sobre Género y Desastres en internet. En 2004, obtuvo su título de diploma en Arquitectura con honores en la Universidad de Yale.

Dave Hampton (moderador y organizador) Dave Hampton es Máster en Diseño en la concentración de Riesgo y Resiliencia de la GSD. Antes de empezar el programa de Maestría, Dave estableció re:ground llc, un servicio de consultoría que consiste en la integración de sistemas naturales y ambientes constructivos para clientes en contextos de desarrollo internacional, urbanos y posdesastres. Ha ejercido la Arquitectura durante 20 años, y su experiencia incluye los (techos verdes, jardines verticales), eficiencia energética, demolición de edificios, así como abogar por la protección del los recursos ambientales junto a Urban Habitat Chicago y el Instituto Delta. De 2010 a 2013, trabajó con Architecture for Humanity, J/P Haitian Relief Organization, UN-Habitat, e Internews para ayudar a dirigir la transición desde la respuesta de emergencia a la reurbanización del vecindario en Port-au-Prince, Haití. Su interés de investigación sigue el camino de la resiliencia a través de ecologías construidas y restauradas, y la adaptación al cambio climático de las zonas costeras urbanas, especialmente en contextos poscoloniales. Actualmente, investiga a Cuba como base para el análisis del status quo de la estrategia de desarrollo internacional y el diseño de una estrategia futura basada en los ambientes inclusivos, cohesivos y productivos.

Ali Karimi (organizador) Ali Karimi es Master Bahreiní en Arquitectura en la GSD. Sus intereses son la vivienda social, el espacio público, la reimaginación de infraestructuras en el Golfo.

Antes de entrar en la GSD, Ali trabajó en Dubai con la firma HOK; en Chile, con Elemental, y logró experiencia regional en proyectos públicos y privados durante su estancia en Bahréin con Gulf House Engineering. Ali recibió su Diploma en Arquitectura con los más altos honores, en el Instituto Tecnológico de Georgia en 2011, así como en Historia de la Arquitectura, Historia, y un certificado de Urbanización. Durante el verano de 2015 en La Habana, Ali dirigió una investigación de campo sobre la vivienda social y cómo los residentes han modificado sus casas con el tiempo.

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