Towards a Social Archeological Conservation in Barcelona

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the relationship between cultural policies and the inhanbitants that live surrounded by urban archaeological spaces in the centre of Barcelona, such as the area of Sotstinent Navarro. This study will focus on the concept of conservation on two perspectives. Firstly, how the role of conservation can be understood regarding heritage management. Secondly, how conservation itself can be discerned as a tool for social inclusion. I will also briefly analyse the Spanish state in relation to the concept of conservation and illustrate my analysis with examples of important archaeological urban landscapes of Barcelona.

Throughout this text, I will analyze whether participation is a useful tool in heritage and how it has had different uses through time, analyzing the position of the different stakeholders on these processes. The analysis will be driven on the basis of different research lines of studies in cultural heritage but also on Public and Community archaeology, bridging those disciplines with what several authors have defined as the search of a social sustainability applied on our case to urban archaeological sites. This article will serve to develop a theoretical frame of future community-driven conservation management methodologies, applied to archaeological urban heritage plans as a measure to increase social benefits for the inhabitants.