URBAN DEVELOPMENT AS HIGH RISK FACTOR FOR CONSERVATION OF TEOTIHUACAN  CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-10-31

The Prehispanic City of Teotihuacan, recently celebrated its 30th aniversay in the World Heritage List. However, since 1987, its population and urban expansion has covered hundreds of hectares of the buffer zone around the core of the archaeological site. This paper will present how the process of disaffection, among other factors, has affected the conservation of this vast area that represents more than 90% of the protected zone. This lack of connection between local inhabitants and their heritage may be seen as a reversible process that starts with the acknowledgement of this issue and will require a long-term strategy to link the next generation of locals with the values of the heritage below the land they see as a potential area for housing and urbanisation. This strategy may tackle a narrow materialistic vision of conservation and to include the re-affection process as part of a comprehensive risk-preparedness methodology that helps to preserve heritage for the following generations. Finally, this paper will introduce a proposal to follow up the current work done by the National Institute of Anthropology and History and has shown first results in the re-affection of young generations of local people in the municipalities of San Martín de las Pirámides and San Juan Teotihuacán.


Author(s): Vargas, Amilcar (University of Barcelona)