Archaeology and nature: hyblean cultural landscape and territorial ...

Besides, the achievements of this urban renewal project are not only represented in the landscape and
design issues. It also contributes to the social tensions and problematic of the area. Under social
sustainability approaches, urban renewal is defined as an integrated vision, addressing urban problems by
improving social, environmental, physical and economic conditions of the area (9). Mirador de los Nevados,
as an urban renewal project, was premised on social sustainability as an integral part of urban regeneration.
This project took into consideration the social tension and cultural exclusion experienced by the community
of Muisca and attempted to contribute to this situation’s solution through the improvement of the environment
and landscapes in the district, based on the spirit of the Suba community. Up to 2010, the park has served
as a space for social, cultural and educational participatory processes for more than 240.000 people, giving
them the opportunity to explore other alternatives for working on social problematic they are having in Suba
and so in their personal live processes. At the same time, through the promotion of the non-traditional
pedagogic environmental protection programs, the people interested in that subject incremented 40% in the
area (2).
4.2. Spirit of Place for cultural heritage and social sustainability: Memory, identity and territory
According to the Spirit of Place theory for cultural heritage preservation, the place is understood from to the
relationship between the human being and the space natural or man-made settings, integrating the memory
and the identity of a particular community in a specific place (19)(31). This is also linked to the recognition of
the social function of the cultural heritage, which connects the memory, the identity and the heritage (4).
In the park Mirador de los nevados, the social function of the cultural heritage corresponds to a citizen
construction where heritage is not an expression of what is beautiful to show, but the memory saved as a
reference of urban manners (32). Here the cultural heritage is appropriated and represented by a
contemporary community, which determinate the sustainability of the project. From this point of view,
people’s well-being is based on the recognition of their memory, cultural needs and cultural particularities,
thus they will protect the place as a non renewal material (34). Suba was the meeting point for the ritual
meetings of the indigenous groups of the region. It was the place where they tried to conserve the Muisca
lineage, by performing rituals for the moon and the water (1). It is where they have chosen to live and that is
why these urban indigenous residents will continue taking care of their territory and their collective memory.
This place embraces the social sustainability principles of equity, inclusion, adaptability and security.
Collective memory concerns a social group’s conceptions, cultural transmissions and use of the past. It is
use to reconstruct the image of the past according to the time and social discourses (14). When the
sustainable development improvements are based on collective memory representations, the cultural
heritage preservation will be done from a qualitative rather than a quantitative outlook, thus it is possible the
“understanding of humanity’s place on the planet” (17 p.40). Muisca community has found their sacred
mountains, lakes and wetlands reduced because of urban expansion (22). The Park constitutes a
sustainable alternative to the conservation of the nature required by this minority.
For the Muisca people their identity is linked to their territory. They have adapted and transformed their way
of living, but not the way to understand their Muisca heritage. They live as any other citizen does: they study,
work and take part of the economy. But, at the same time, within their daily life they also uphold their cultural
traditions, games and rituals while in contact with nature (27). The Park has become a place where the social
aspect of their cultural heritage is experienced. It is a place for re-creating their cultural tradition through the
development of cultural and political activities according to their indigenous beliefs. Mirador de los Nevados
is the scene for activities like the Turmequé game, Andean dances, traditional dances, concerts of traditional
music, bartering, indigenous sports, mingas, indigenous week celebration and “environmental classrooms”,
among others. Here, cultural heritage is part of the definition of social sustainability, which is related to the
relationship between individual actions and the created environment, individual life-chances and institutional
structures, and the creation of social cohesion and participation and justice (23).
Further, Canclini established that the modern city is not only a place to live and work; it is also a place where
cultural heritage expressions become a part of daily life. The park is a heritage site integrated into the city’s
public space framework. The public spaces make the cities; it is there, in the open space, in the streets,
squares, parks and edifications, where the citizens experience being social individuals, developing their
cultural identity and the strategies for public participation (28). These places constitute the physical support
to satisfy the urban collective necessities that go beyond the individual interests. On the local scale, places
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