Puerto Madero and Porto Maravilha: the transformation process of port areas into tourist zones

Abstract

Transformations in the use of urban space in contemporary cities have common features and projects in the global era take similar themes, such as requalifications of port areas and waterfronts. The main objective of this paper is to revisit the process of urban transformation and valorization of the port areas of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, completed in 1990 and 2015, respectively. It recapitulates their historical processes from decay to recovery as tourist zones, following the implementation of the “Strategic Plan of Antiguo Puerto Madero”, from 1990, in Buenos Aires, and of “Urban Operation Porto Maravilha”, from 2009, in Rio de Janeiro. While planning and strategies differ as they sought distinct locations in different times, they were similar in attracting massive investment from the real estate market. Therefore, consequences of the projects for the cities and the local population are a more important issue than formal results achieved.