Before Revitalization, the Degradation

If the process of particular spaces being afforded heritage status suggests an implicit re-evaluation and re-valorization, these shifts in category are often contextualized by socially constructed discourses of prior degradation and marginalization. One such case, Curitiba’s Rua Riachuelo, was designated outside of the city’s Historic Centre in the 1970s by the city council, but is now the focus of projects that aim to promote its social and economic renewal from a “degraded” state. We will review the complex interplay of rhetoric, conversation, and discourse around this heritage-making process, a process intensified by the 2009 Nova Rua Riachuelo revitalization project. This specific latter instance of urban regeneration has resulted in the construction of a complex network of individuals, companies, and organisations, linked to the state, public administration, and/or the business community. Our aim is thus to interrogate the process of “heritage-making” and its implementation from multiple perspectives: the Rua Riachuelo’s traders and residents, the state, the institutions that promote and support commerce, and the mass media.