Housing in Havana's Historic Center: New Housing Policies and a Change of Perspective

The (re)regulation in favor of the market within the framework of an economic opening implemented by the Cuban government in 2011 enabled the sale and purchase of housing on the island after 50 years of absence. In this way, the real estate market assumed an unprecedented role in the urban life of the Cuban revolutionary process. In Havana's historic center, as in other cities in the country, a large number of properties were converted into restaurants, lodging houses, bars, gyms, art galleries, cafeterias and other activities oriented mainly to the enjoyment of international tourism. Within this framework, the present research attempts to show the change of perspective on the part of the Cuban government in the way of conceiving housing; going from an exclusively residential use to a considerable level of commercialization. For this purpose, this article is based on the survey and interpretation of the main laws and governmental regulations implemented since 1959. It is concluded that the modification of the General Housing Law represents the highest degree of commercialization in housing since 1959. All of which is transforming the urban space, provoking population displacements (physical and symbolic) and generating unequal ways of living.