Valuation “Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca” tram way landscapes in the downtown’s historic area known as historic center of Cuenca (Ecuador)

Abstract

Relevant aspects of the ecological and aesthetic dimensions that define the attributes of the urban landscape are going to be evaluated. As a starting point this work proposes to obtain all the graphical information of the historical center because city has its characteristics, elements, qualities and relationships as product and creation which can be perceived and interpreted. Urban image, characterization and components of the landscape will be analyzed under criteria determined by author Kevin Lynch based on the study of paths, nodes, landmarks and neighborhoods. Urban mobility of the city will be studied to generate information that clarifies the road of the study area. Next step will be to evaluate the mixed assessment of the landscape through proposing several surveys to facilitate the obtaining of results of environmental physical, socio-economic valuation and analysis of visual perception. The resulting information from processing that survey will be used to create a graphic which clearly identifies the most vulnerable points into the study area, and will facilitate the obtaining of a SWOT table which will be the start point to plan the intervention proposals to be made in the study area. This thesis document proposes to evaluate Cuatro Ríos de Cuenca tram way landscapes in the downtown’s historic area known as Centro Histórico. A mixed methodology will be used to perform this evaluation, to contribute with sustainable criteria which will determine how to improve green areas inside evaluation region.