Beyond Material Preservation: Urban Vitality in the Historic Center of Cochabamba

Abstract

This study examines the historic center of Cochabamba to reassess its heritage value beyond
material conservation frameworks. Although its urban-architectural ensemble has been
significantly altered in recent decades, the research aims to demonstrate that such
transformations do not necessarily imply decline. Methodologically, the study combines a
theoretical recomposition with an analysis of the relationship between heritage condition and
social mixture in public space as an indicator of urban health. The results show that physical
alteration has not led to abandonment but reflects adaptive social rhythms responding to new
territorial dynamics. The study concludes that heritage must be understood as inseparable from
dwelling, conceived as the dialectical synthesis of society and space. In Latin America, there
has not been studies carried on about Historic Centers from the perspective of urban vitality,
so by reframing heritage as lived and relational rather than merely material or symbolic, this
research contributes a multidimensional and process-oriented perspective to contemporary
urban heritage studies in Latin America.