The World Heritage site of Ouro Preto

Abstract

Purpose

This article presents the current situation of Ouro Preto, the first Brazilian city to be inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1980. It explores the evolution of the urban form, especially concerning public policies and development strategies as the motors to prompt the city's expansion.

Design/methodology/approach

Landscape architecture concepts were employed to understand impacts caused by the settlement within its urban landscape. In addition, urban morphology methods were used to research the urban form considered as a product of public policies, shaped by political, social and economic forces. In this manner, building typologies and new urban forms occupying the surrounding hills of the historical city's core were viewed as urban morphology issues, whereas the impact of the new housing scheme on the land and on the city skyline was a subject related to landscape architecture.

Findings

In general, it was observed that the public policies that have been implemented mainly control individual buildings, rather than whole homogeneous areas. Consequently, this has been contributing to environmental damage and the loss of the city's character.

Originality/value

The added value of the article is its contribution to studies focusing on uncontrolled expansions, as well as the occupation of the city's surrounding hills, as it explores the evolution of the city by considering it a product of society's actions that materialise through public policies.

Citation

de Alvarenga Pereira Costa, S., Barci Castriota, L. and Salgado, M. (2011), "The World Heritage site of Ouro Preto", Facilities, Vol. 29 No. 7/8, pp. 339-351. https://doi.org/10.1108/02632771111130942