Dr. Caroline Cheong will present "Who’s in charge?: Origins of inefficiency in urban heritage conservation in Ecuador”
Ecuador is a country of stark contrasts. Abundant colonial architecture, a moderate climate and a thriving agricultural economy pair with striking poverty and subpar quality of life, with more than a quarter of the country’s residents living below the income-based poverty line. In many instances, the country’s historic centers are points of convergence for these seemingly oppositional forces, representing loci of rich historic assets and low quality of life. Despite varying attempts, government has yet to find a way to address the deterioration of both the cities’ historic urban fabric and social conditions, continuing to address both phenomena as distinct and unrelated. Through an examination of conservation processes and outcomes in the country’s four largest historic cities – Quito, Cuenca (both of which are World Heritage sites), Loja and Ibarra – this presentation focuses on the legacy of national and local institutional deficiencies that continues to hamper the public sector’s ability to effectively manage and conserve these areas and the people that live within them.
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Caroline Cheong's research focuses on the relationship between urban heritage conservation and economic development, values-based conservation management, conservation economics and poverty reduction. She earned her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in City and Regional Planning, where her dissertation examined the relationship between urban conservation, quality of life improvements and low income communities through four case studies in Ecuador.
Previously, Caroline was Director of Research for heritage economics consulting firms PlaceEconomics and Heritage Strategies International, through which she published numerous research reports and professional publications focusing on the economic impacts of historic preservation.
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