San Jose reflects on its urban regeneration driven by culture

The city of San Jose celebrated its 200th anniversary as the capital of Costa Rica and, as a result, was designated as the Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2023. Additionally, since 2019, the city of San Jose has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, and as a result, UNESCO is accompanying the city in developing initiatives to enhance the contributions of culture and creativity for sustainable development. In this context, UNESCO joined in the celebrations by organizing a forum focused on cultural heritage and sustainable urban development.

The forum, called "San Jose lives heritage: enhancing culture for sustainable urban development," was organized in collaboration with the Municipality of San Jose, the Ministry of Culture and Youth, the Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements, and the civil society initiative 'Urban Regeneration.' The activity is part of the Transitarte Festival, organized by the Municipality of San Jose, which resumes in 2023 after several years of interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 60 participants from both the public and private sectors had the opportunity through this space to exchange ideas and visualize initiatives around the role of heritage and creativity in the city's cultural development. The forum allowed for the creation of networks among diverse actors, including local government, national authorities, organized civil society, and the private sector, for the sustainable protection and use of cultural heritage.

The forum was attended by Mr. Alexander Leicht, UNESCO Representative for Costa Rica, Ms. Jéssica Martínez, Minister of Housing and Urban Settlements, Ms. Vera Vargas León, Deputy Minister of Culture, Ms. Paula Vargas, Vice Mayor of San Jose, and Mr. Giovanni Graziano, representative of the civil society initiative 'Urban Regeneration.'

The Minister of Housing and Urban Settlements, Jéssica Martínez, celebrated this space and showed that the central government is aware of the needs that the city of San Jose has to renew itself.

For her part, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Vera Vargas, explained that "heritage should not only live through architecture. We must also live the living heritage. The forum invites us to think about San Jose and invites us to dialogue. To achieve the regeneration of a city, we need the city to have movement and activation. This movement is achieved with sustainable transportation and a safe environment in the city."

Alexander Leicht, UNESCO Representative for Costa Rica, commented that "it is one of our priorities to call on cities to harness the power of culture to promote inclusive development and more equal, diverse, and green cities."

In the space, Caroline Munier, Specialist of the Culture Program, gave a presentation on the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape. Known as the 2011 Recommendation, this tool proposes an approach that allows for the integration of policies and practices for the conservation of cultural heritage in urban development strategies, respecting values and traditions inherited from the different cultural contexts that coexist in the city.

The Vice Mayor of San Jose, Paula Vargas, noted that "by celebrating the 200 years of San Jose, and in the context of its designation as Ibero-American Capital, it becomes necessary to carry out this process of reflection to which UNESCO invites us. Culture has great potential to promote the 2030 Agenda."