This thematic unit looks at environmental heritage, by which
we mean the variety of valuable factors that characterize the city of Buenos
Aires and the region around it.
Firstly, ‘natural heritage' refers to spaces where
natural elements predominate, regardless of how they have been modified. As
such, Buenos Aires’s natural heritage includes areas that could be said
to be wild (such as the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve) and areas that have
been totally modified by human intervention (such as any of the big city parks),
both of which serve ecological and recreational purposes.
Secondly, ‘cultural heritage’ includes many of
the works created or undertaken by society: sites, spaces, and buildings which,
for historical, cultural, or other unusual reasons, have become part of our
collective memory and lend identity to the specific areas they are found in,
or to the city in general. It also refers to valuable intangible cultural
elements, such as the tango or literature inspired by Buenos Aires which has
also come to represent it (books by Arlt, Cortázar, Marechal, and Borges,
among others).
