Challenges faced by Lima, Peru, in managing its cultural heritage and the effectiveness of UNESCO's contributions. (Editing Sample)

CHAPTER 3- PROBLEMS WITH LIMA DOWNTOWN BEING A UNESCO SITE Before having the UNESCO WH designation, Lima Downtown had been a recipe for disaster since the rich resettled to more affluent districts like Miraflores and Barranco in the 1950s. As discussed in Chapter 1, at that time, thousands of low-income migrants from the provinces entered Lima Downtown to stay, even though the infrastructure was not large enough to host so many individuals at one time. As a result, what used to be single-family homes became structures to house 30-50 individuals. Crime, illegal businesses, squatting, terrorist acts from the Shining Path, and other unfavorable acts also scale. Even though these issues had been persisting since the 50s, Peru applied for Lima Downtown to be designated as a WH Site, and UNESCO accepted it in 1988. Although it is up to the host country to complete an application to become a WH site, UNESCO accepts it and offers guidelines rather than intervention for most countries. Because of the lack of involvement from UNESCO, they have engaged in exploratory actions to ascertain consequences. They have allowed and encouraged the continuous destruction of world heritage sites worldwide. Lima Downtown's lack of concern has significantly impacted low-income families living in deplorable conditions because the owners would rather their historical property rot and deteriorate than fix it according to UNESCO's guidelines for historical materials. This chapter discusses Lima Downtown's cultural heritage and sustainability issues, evaluates UNESCO's interventions, and examines how Lima Downtown's designation as a World Heritage site has affected culture and sustainability. CULTURAL HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES Informal Residents Exploring Lima Downtown's informal residents' lives is crucial to comprehending its complex issues. Rural-to-urban migration increased in the mid-20th century, leaving entering residents without affordable homes. Thus, these refugees collaborated to build their improvised communities. Many people live in Barrio Altos, which borders the UNESCO World Heritage site. The cottages were made from accessible materials and often looked like impromptu structures. According to INEC, Peru's national statistics agency, most Barrio Altos residents live within the World Heritage site. Furthermore, Korn et al. (2018) estimate that over 70% of Lima Downtown is slum. Many settlers have also moved into the region's buildings. Owners of these notable buildings often offered low-cost rentals. However, financial gain often trumped the protection of these revered structures. Thus, single-family homes meant for a few people became overcrowded, housing up to 80 people. Peruvian researcher Maria Rodriguez interviewed informal community residents to understand their difficult living situations better. The researcher's findings reveal landlord and government mistreatment of these folks. Maria recounted her family's experience renting a single room in a typical apartment and sharing a bathroom with six others. After five years of financial struggle, the landlord used law enforcement to drive the tenants out. As one walks through Lima Downtown, cinder, and cement block many old buildings' doors. Local locals say these barricades are meant to deter squatters. This technique threatens the World Heritage site's visual appeal, authenticity, and cohesion (Hum of the Earth, 2019). The stakeholders must decide whether to build barricades to keep out squatters or let the structures decay due to their reluctance to pay for expensive repairs that meet UNESCO preservation standards (Carrilho & Trindade, 2022). Understanding that people in such situations prioritize survival is crucial. Cultural heritage protection often takes second place in daily tasks. The extensive adoption of a survival mode perspective in many aspects of human existence makes it difficult to prioritize cultural heritage despite continued battles to achieve basic demands and protect personal safety. Crime Although some studies suggest that Lima is not as dangerous as other Latin American cities, Lima Downtown is known to be one of the most dangerous districts in the city (Jaitman, 2020). It has been a continuous problem for decades because the judicial system in Peru is corrupt. According to INEI, only one in ten arrested criminals will serve a harsh punishment while the others are set free. This has created confidence for seasoned criminals who know the judicial system is weak. Residents have voiced their concerns about the daily crime in the small Manzanilla area on the left half of Lima Downtown. Most of the crimes are gang-related, mob robberies, and vandalism. They say they are victims of citizen insecurity as even during daylight, a group of people will attack and rob anyone on the streets. Surveillance videos in my research depict how the criminals get together and surprise the victim by chasing them, then beating them severely before stripping them of their belongings in broad daylight. This violence is widespread along Nicolas Ayllon Avenue. This avenue, known for the black market where stolen goods are being sold, makes it vulnerable for the people selling them and those roaming the black markets to be subject to gang violence. Along San Pablo Avenue, residents claim that assaults are widespread, which is a concern because many schools are around the area. In Lima, there is a neighborhood security watch called Serenazgo. After the residents of Manzanilla begged for support, the national police and Serenazgo placed watchposts along the troubled avenues. However, the residents feel they are still losing the battle against violent crimes. Unfortunately, this is an impoverished area that the local governments are unwilling to pour resources into aside from the help they have already provided. In addition, there is always the high risk of corruption, where the police or security guards would happily turn a blind eye in exchange for cash from the criminals. In a plan created by the Municipality of Lima in 2018, there were plans to heighten the security in troubled areas, including Lima Downtown; however, statistics from 2022 show that crime has increased steadily since the 2018 plan was implemented. Informal Businesses In a study done in 2016, researchers found that, on average, 55% of workers in Latin America are informal and do not pay taxes. In Peru, more than two-thirds of workers and almost 90% of firms are casual, the highest informality percentage in Latin America. Lima's central hub of informal businesses is Gamarra, a district feet away from Lima Downtown. Gamarra is famous for its goods market. Anything one can imagine is sold there for a meager price, such as textiles, electronics, fashion, furniture, and more. Businesses in Peru usually go to Gamarra as their primary resource for goods and services to save money. Gamarra was thriving during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic because the population was uninterested in the mandates in place, and the government never cared to implement them here specifically (International Labour Organization, 2019). Conversely, the informality in this area began decades ago when the migrators came from the provincial areas. They came specifically to Lima Downtown because, at the time, it was the city's central business and financial center. They realized quickly that no formal employment would be very accepting, and they would have to make it independently. And that's precisely what they did by creating informal businesses so they would not have to pay taxes. As a reminder, informal interactions were already problematic when UNESCO decided it would be a WH site. According to Norman Loayza, the informality in Peru is from a combination of poor public services, an oppressive regulatory regime, and the weak capacity of supervision and the execution of the Peruvian government. This combination is explosive when the country already has low education and an unstable government (Hailu Demeke, 2022). Today, informal businesses look like hole-in-the-wall restaurants, repair shops, vendors taking over pedestrian sidewalks, and more. Protests- highlights of two major rallies in 2020 and 2022 Lima Downtown hosts two main plazas, the Plaza Mayor de Lima (also commonly known as Plaza de Armas) and the Plaza San Martin. The Plaza de Armas is located in the Government Palace and the Basilica Cathedral (PHOTO). Plaza San Martin, located five blocks south of Plaza de Armas (SHOW A MAP), is known for its breathtaking colonial white architecture and is home to the famous Hotel Bolivar. In the 1800s, it used to house a hospital that was later torn down to build a railway station. At the center of this plaza is a statue to pay homage to Peru's liberator, Jose de San Martin. Critical political events also happened here, such as the assassination of revolutionary politician Bernardo de Monteagudo in 1825 (Racine, 2020). It is unclear why Plaza San Martin has become the epicenter of demonstrations for most of its history. Today, daily protests occur in this plaza, from small gatherings to large crowds. In the last three years, the plaza was hit with two large protests spanned several days and thousands of participants. In November 2020, Peru's congress impeached the sitting president, Martin Vizcarra, for accusations of corruption. However, it was clear to many citizens that the decision was a government ploy because he was about to expose individuals in Congress for their corruption history. Ultimately, he allowed them to remove him, and Congress chose a seemingly random interim president, Manuel Merino, to fill in, and the citizens were outraged. Since Vizcarra had previously served as vice president under a president who was incarcerated for corruption, and the vice presidency was vacant at the time, a seamless transition of power to a successor was impossible. Peruvians protested Merino's administra...