Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development

This article was downloaded by: [Nipissing University] On: 09 October 2014, At: 22:15 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK The Journal of Architecture Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjar20 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello a & Graciela Aguilar a a CECPUR (Centro para la Conservación del Patrimonio Urbano y Rural) , Centre for the Conservation of the Urban and Rural Heritage, University of Buenos Aires , Argentina Published online: 06 Aug 2012. To cite this article: Andrea Morello & Graciela Aguilar (2012) Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development, The Journal of Architecture, 17:4, 541-562, DOI: 10.1080/13602365.2012.709021 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2012.709021 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. 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Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjar20 http://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/13602365.2012.709021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2012.709021 http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar CECPUR (Centro para la Conservación del Patrimonio Urbano y Rural), Centre for the Conservation of the Urban and Rural Heritage, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina This paper aims to analyse the characteristics of a formerly quite important town, product of the (English) railway system established in the rural area of the province of Buenos Aires, which has been deeply affected by the changes of the last decades of the twentieth century, as well as to describe its current situation and the actions conceived and carried out in order to revitalise it. Since the authors have been involved in the surveys and evaluation procedures, it is a first-hand reflection on successes and failures. Background Between the1960sand1990s,Argentinawasaffected by political and economic changes that forced a con- siderable amount of its rural population to move to the urban areas. Along with this process, the political decision to deactivate thousands of miles of railway lines left people living in small towns—formerly con- nected by the railway system—with few choices for economic growth and cultural development, produ- cing a critical situation. The economic changes and the absence of comprehensive policies impacted on these populations, causing the migration process men- tioned above. The ageing of the remaining population, the loss of services and infrastructure, and the waste of resources caused socioeconomic desertification and disarticulation of the territory. Within this context, the rescue of these historic towns and the reaffirmation of their cultural values constitute a way of achieving sustainable local development. It is necessary to understand the process that produced the present worrying situ- ation, avoiding generalisations, and then to design the right tools to manage the available resources. The experience in Mechita, a small town in Bragado (figs 1, 2, 3), Buenos Aires, is an example of how to develop remedies for the situation. Introduction The industrial heritage is the evidence of activities which had and continue to have profound histori- cal consequences. The motives for protecting the industrial heritage are based on the universal value of this evidence, rather than on the singular- ity of unique sites. The industrial heritage is of social value as part of the record of the lives of ordinary men and women, and as such it provides an important sense of iden- tity. It is of technological and scientific value in the history of manufacturing, engineering, construc- tion, and it may have considerable aesthetic value for the quality of its architecture, design or planning. The Nizhny Tagil Charter for the Industrial Heritage; July, 2003 The Argentine railway network was developed in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries and reached 47,000 km in extent country-wide, with a strong 541 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 # 2012 The Journal of Architecture 1360-2365 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2012.709021 D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 concentration in the province of Buenos Aires. At the time, it was considered to be one of the largest in the world. Its expansion was related to the agro-export economic model and it was initially promoted by Argentinian funding, then increased with British funds. According to Bartolomé Mitre, President of Argen- tina 1862–1869, in a speech given at the opening of the first interprovincial railway in April, 1863: The railway will populate the wilderness; it will give wealth where nowadays poverty exists, and will put order where disorder reigns; in the middle of the prairies it will be flatter, and it will finally climb the Andes, to later become the Amer- ican railroad. Juan Bautista Alberdi observed, in his ‘Bases and starting points for the political organisation of Argentina’ (1852), that: The railway is the means of turning to the right position what the colonising Spain placed upside down on this continent. Spain placed the heads 542 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 1. Mechita’s railway station (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 of our states where there should be the feet. For her aims of isolation and monopoly, that system was wise; for our expansion and business freedom, it is fatal. It is necessary to bring the capital to the coast, or to bring the coast inland. The railway and the electric telegraph, which are the suppression of space, make all this feasible, better than any other power on earth. The railway innovation reforms and changes the more difficult things. It will make the unit of Argentina better than any discourse . . . Without the railway, there will be no political unity in countries where distance makes impossible the effectiveness of a central power. Bring the coast to these places by rail, or vice versa, put those ends three days away, at least. But having the 543 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 Figure 2. The railway workshops (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 metropolis or capital 20 days away is little less than having it inSpain, aswhen theold systemgoverned. Thus, political unity must start with territorial unity and only the railway can make of two sites, separ- ated by five hundred miles, a unique place . . . .1 Alberdi thus marked the relationship between the idea of occupying with population the territory of Argentina and the project of building a nation that the 1880s’ generation of politicians brought into being. The railway system was the engine of devel- opment and settlement of the country. As the network was being extended throughout the terri- tory and for logistical purposes, it was necessary to generate intermediate stations as well as the con- struction of infrastructure. That encouraged the settlement of villages whose productive activities were linked, from the beginning, to agricultural pro- duction and the railways. 544 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 3. Mechita: townscape (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 The history of this system in Argentina is not simply a history of transport. It is part of the political history of Argentina. The railways were built at the same time as national unity was being consolidated, and no one can deny that they were a tool—the most effective—for the task of creating Argentina out of a handful of anarchic provinces, by settling a modern society on the colonial structures of nearly three centuries of Spanish domination and forty years of civil war that had deeply affected the land.2 Economic development was an essential part of the programme. Trade was opened up, natural resources—land, minerals, cattle—were exploited, desert lands were populated with indus- trious people, and, once an economic transform- ation could be attained, a good destiny would be assured. Given this set of ideas, it is clear why the problem of transport was vital. The railway system was intended to distribute in the vast desert territory the people who were to populate it and to be the means to collect, gather and convey their pro- duction to the ports. The transport system, both nationally and internationally, was the focus of attention. The construction of ports and railways was enthu- siastically carried out by successive governments. It was not unusual for the national road system to be built along with the railway network. That was the same process which had led to the economic transformation in Europe, and impelled the coloni- sation and development of countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and also Argen- tina. The railway system was an irreplaceable instru- ment of progress for the so-called ‘1880 Generation’. Its development came as a result of the decision of a political class to pursue its aims of establishing a modern state and a capitalist society. Thus, the construction of railways required financial resources and a set of social skills that did not exist in Argentina at the time, and which the educational system and society were not able to create quickly enough. It was necessary therefore to look abroad. And it was precisely the willingness of England to become a capital and rail technology exporter which was a perfect complement to the programme of the group that managed the process of national organisation, the ‘1880 Gener- ation’. By 1870 the railway system had about 700 km of tracks. The Western Railway Co. was the first to be put into operation, linking Plaza Lavalle and Floresta, in Buenos Aires. The national layout was focused on the main port areas, Buenos Aires and Rosario, par- ticularly the former. A real ‘railway fever’ was encour- aged. Between 1870 and 1914 most of Argentina’s network was built, with English, French and Argen- tine financial support. At that time, it ranked at tenth place in the world, with about 47,000 kilo- metres by the end of the Second World War. It made possible Argentina’s development and the population of its territory. Then, shortly after the end of the Second World War, in 1946, and as in other Latin American countries, the nationalisation of the railway system took place. About fifteen exist- ing active railway companies of the time were merged into six lines, each of which provided a goods service as well as intercity and commuter pas- senger services from the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires (Mitre, Roca, San Martı́n, Urquiza, Sarmiento and Belgrano lines). 545 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 In 1958 a period of ‘regression’ began. In fact, policies to promote the development of the road network produced the deactivation and removal of railway tracks. In 1965, the Argentine State Railways Company (then Ferrocarriles Argentinos) was estab- lished by merging the six lines mentioned above. As a result of successive initiatives through time, Ferro- carriles Argentinos established three different routes with a strong radial configuration centred in Buenos Aires which reduced their chances of integration. In 1980 the railway network had an extension of 34,113 km, while in 1976 it had 41,463 km. By the late 1980s, and after several changes in corpor- ate management, the situation of Ferrocarriles Argentinos was even more difficult. With a share of less than 15% in passenger services in the metro- politan Buenos Aires region and only 8% of the market share of goods transport and long-distance passengers, it needed 600/700 million US dollars a year to finance operating deficits and partially to afford necessary investment. At that time, it was about 1% of GDP. Financial difficulties impacted on the condition of rolling stock and facilities: only a half of the diesel electric locomotives (from 1,000 in total) was in operation and 55% of the track was in fair or poor condition. The pampas’pampas’ railway townsrailway towns The Domingo F. Sarmiento Line (formerly the Buenos Aires Western Railway Co.) was the first in Argen- tina. After its inauguration on August 29th, 1857, the Buenos Aires Western Railway needed to extend its lines to satisfy commercial trading inter- ests. So in 1858 the rails reached Ramos Mejı́a; in April, 1860, they reached Morón and Moreno. In 1863, the Buenos Aires government, assumed control of the company, constituting the Buenos Aires Central Western Railway and Province Bank. And in 1866, the line reached Chivilcoy, 150 km from its terminal (Fig. 4) The considerable number of small towns in an area of about 200 km around Buenos Aires is living testi- mony to the impact of transport policy. Their aspect was strongly influenced by British industrial architec- ture: they are representative of Argentina’s nine- teenth and twentieth centuries’ built heritage. The prototype of the eighteenth-century English rural house had a particular influence on the railway companies’ housing developments, which adopted typologies, construction systems and architectural styles. British railway companies in Argentina provided their employees with houses and social facilities for their households. The experience was repeated all over the country: the creation of settle- ments and the generation of neighbourhoods, located in major urban centres, came with the instal- lation of workshops and shunting yards. The styles of railway housing were characterised by its location near workplaces, and there were two distinct types. Those for the senior staff were built in Victorian Gothic style, with high-quality construction and significant garden settings. Those for the various workers were usually grouped into blocks and formed neighbourhoods or unified colonies. Within the diversity of analysable examples, there are some common characteristics: . location in rural or suburban areas, near shops, warehouses or railway stations, with small populations 546 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 . longitudinal pattern of urban growth, according to the different categories of employment, taking into account the distribution of houses and external communication networks (main roads, minor roads, etc.) . electricity, water and sewer infrastructure provided by the railway company, which also maintained the housing . generous green areas and public places . social, cultural and sports facilities, with exclusive access for company staff. Mechita, on the trail of the West Rail Mechita is a small village of 1850 inhabitants3 located in the northwest of the province of Buenos Aires. It is on the Ferrocarril D. F. Sarmiento line, 201 km from the city and 1 km away from the town of Bragado. Access by car is 2 km away from 547 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 Figure 4. Invitation to the opening of the West Rail Company (courtesy of the Archivo General de la Nación – AGN). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 the National Road 5 and 6 km far from the Provincial Highway 46. Its urban area is shared by two local jurisdictions: 90% of the area (and 70% of its popu- lation) is in Bragado and the remaining 10% is in Alberti, Bragado being the political, economic and cultural focus (figs 5, 6). In 1906, Manuel Quintana (then President) donated the lands for the British West Railway 548 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 5. Mechita: location map (courtesy of Fundación Responde, Informes sobre Mechita). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 Company’s town.4 Later, the distribution platform and the repair depots for wagons and locomotives were built nearby. By 1908 the workshops, the roundhouses and the staff housing were completed. The staff houses were the starting point of the urban centre and for the transfer of employees from differ- ent parts of the province. Due to its growth, Mechi- tás station had a West Rail Club, which was attended by senior workers and operators, and a Youth Railway Club, more popular, and with Italian and Spanish members. The town had a cinema, a simple corrugated iron and wood building, which was located next to the headquarters of the existing Mechita Social and Sports Club. This building had been a general shop for the workers, and became a recreational club, library and improvised primary school for the English staff’s children (figs 7, 8). To support the construction and operation of the railway system another sector called ‘Colony’ was built. Its urban pattern is based on eighteenth- century English housing. It expresses Owen’s philosophy that arrived in Argentina along with the whole social railway organisation. The Colony was composed of over one hundred and ten houses to accommodate workers: drivers, firemen and guards. At the beginning, the whole Railway Colony housing complex included fifteen houses with 4 rooms, sixteen flats with 3 rooms, seventy- nine flats with 2 rooms and other facilities for non- resident personnel, including a general shop and butchery. The houses were built in brick and had gabled corrugated zinc roofs. They were divided into three categories according to size and the hier- archy of the staff. The floors were made of timber 549 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 Figure 6. Mechita: location map (courtesy of Fundación Responde, Informes sobre Mechita). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 and mosaic. When first occupied, the houses had running water and sewers, but not yet electricity, so the Company illuminated the streets with strate- gically located oil-fed lamps. Although it was located in an optimal farming and livestock area, Mechita’s economy was concentrated on the repair of railway engines and in the commer- cial movement produced through the railway station. Historically, about 95% of the economically active population received their incomes directly or indirectly from the railway system. By 1930, the number of dwellings had exceeded the 118 English-style houses originally built for the railway workers and the urban area had grown. In the mid- 1960s about 5,000 people were living in the town. There were between six and seven daily passenger trains to and from the city of Buenos Aires, as well as thirteen daily local trains to and from Bragado, for commuters working in both towns. Mechita’s urban pattern grew in a longitudinal direction, parallel to the railway platform, which was complemented by a clear NE-SW axis along Quintana Avenue, the main street, and another SE-NW axis, along José Hernández St, the access from the National Route 5. After the 1980 and 2002 floods, when the Bragado Lake between Bragado and Mechita overflowed, an artificial channel was built parallel to the railway platform 550 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 7. The railway workshops in action (photograph courtesy of the AGN collection). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 to drain the area: it was opened in 1910, flows into the Salado River and is now a tourist attraction offering sport fishing. From the beginning, the population was almost entirely composed of immigrants from all over the world in a continuing stream from such countries as India, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. With its growth, new facilities were built or adapted, such as schools #20 and #36, which continue, having been re-founded, and two clubs nearby with railway origins. Surviving documents show the criteria adopted for initial planning and the location of the different parts of the railway system: they demonstrate that everything was carefully thought through at all levels from the territorial to each component of the system. This is the authentic and relevant value of Mechita, and it must be preserved from false interpretations or distorted perceptions of its phasing. Mechita is a testimony to the systems as well as the subsystems and all the elements specially designed for the accommodation and welfare of 551 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 Figure 8. The railway workshops in action (photograph courtesy of the AGN collection). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 the workers: housing units, sanitary systems, schools, sports clubs, vocational training centres, etc. (Fig. 9). The latest survey identified the components as (figs 10, 11, 12, 13): . Railway operating system - Main buildings: railway depots and workshops of various sizes (repair of rolling stock, carpentry, etc.), railway station, dining room, administrative offices - Service and equipment: plant, boiler, water tank, tanks, signal cabins, instrumental and signage for railway operation - Rolling stock of various sizes: locomotives, wagons, cranes, trailers, etc. 552 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 9. Site Plan: location of housing and railway workshops (reproduced from the Railway Company’s files). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 553 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 Figure 10. Houses (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 554 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 11. Houses (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 555 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 Figure 12. The railway workshops in 2012 (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 . Housing system and equipment - Railway colony of over a hundred houses, where the first settlers, those who built the workshops, lived - School - Sports Club . Complementary services and daily needs - Orchards - Livestock grazing areas Mechita taken as a whole exceeds the potential value of each of its elements. We consider that this is a paradigmatic example of the railway towns of Argentina, not only due to the importance of the fact that the system has survived in a com- plete state, but also because of what it means for the regional economy. Cases of a similar scale can be found, such as Tafı́ Viejo (Tucumán), Pérez and 556 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 13. The school (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 Paiva Lake (Santa Fe), Tolosa (Province of Buenos Aires), but they are not comparably preserved. Mechita is an example of authenticity and it remains a living testimony to the importance of the railway in the early decades of the twentieth century. The railway system modified the territory and, in the interaction between the existing natural and cultural landscapes in the Mechita area, there are opportunities for the generation of new urban and local development. The situation after the deactivation of the railway system In 1946, as already mentioned, the extensive railway network was taken entirely under the control of the State. During subsequent decades it was dismantled, later being divided up among private companies. Currently, however, it still extends to over 34,059 km. Between the 1960s and 1990s, the country was affected by political and economic changes that forced people to move from rural to urban areas. The re-privatisa- tion of the railways and the removal of thousands of kilometres of railway tracks gradually left small towns with few options for economic growth and cultural development, leading to the present critical situation. Demographic changes are directly linked to other factors such as unemployment and poor access to health, to education, to cultural activities, to information technology, etc. Currently, this phenomenon is evidenced by massive displace- ment, mainly to the metropolis, producing strong social inequalities and exclusion and accentuating different problems in rural areas, where the population is ageing and sustainable activities are lacking, while regional integration leaves behind empty territories with vulnerable social groups who have lost their identity and culture. The initial project In 2005, the Fundación Responde, an organisation that promotes the rehabilitation of towns and villages that are in danger and at risk of disappear- ance, got in touch with us. Its aim was create a museum as a new use for one of the buildings in Mechita (Fig. 14). We worked with the Fundación to promote the rescue of those values that the site had lost over the years due to the deactivation of the railway through: ∗ Evaluating the different components of the system; considering their potential in terms of rehabilitation and re-functioning ∗ analysing the conservation of the buildings; making a pre-diagnosis of them to locate damage and disruption ∗ preparing recommendations for the Task Force, taking into account conservation criteria, inter- national guidelines and special strategies for an appropriate intervention ∗ analysing possibilities for tourism and its impact on the town ∗ considering the population’s sense of ownership; promoting participation and integration as part of the project. Recognising the potential of natural and physical cultural resources, we considered the following principles for intervention: 557 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 ∗ keeping the town as a service provider to the whole region ∗ protecting the cultural heritage while promoting social and economic development On this basis, we proposed the following action programmes: † Equipment and infrastructure programme 1. Project: to improve the accessibility and ameli- oration of the National Route 5. 2. Project: to restore the landscape, main streets and artificial drainage channel. 3. Project: to rehabilitate the streets and pave- ments. 4. Project: to enhance the trees in the streets. † Conservation, preservation and rehabilitation of the cultural heritage programme 5. Project: the evaluation of historical components, architecture and landscape; the proposal of 558 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar Figure 14. The current condition of the rolling stock (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 specific projects, including Mechita’s role in the construction of the Western Railway. 5.1. Project: railway heritage. † rehabilitation and maintenance of the railway operating system; main buildings, rolling stock, instrumental, signs, etc. † conservation and rehabilitation of railway housing and social facilities; dwellings, schools, clubs, etc. † enhancement of grazing, orchards and fields 5.2. Project: rural heritage. 5.3. Project: urban heritage and landscape. 5.4. Project: listing of Mechita as a National Historic Town. † Economic recovery programme 6. Project: Mechita’s tourism development; railway history/landscape (urban, rural, drainage channel)/production (fields). † Social recovery programme 7. Project: community information. 8. Project: production training. 9. Project: cultural promotion. † Mechita’s enhancement programme 10. Project: cultural heritage education. 11. Project: historical references. All these programmes and actions should be part of Mechita’s conservation master plan which must outline intervention strategies and approaches for the whole, taking account of the criteria adopted, methodologies and techniques, not only to preserve inherited physical resources but also to keep the values of the whole system. In this sense, we out- lined the following aims: - At urban scale . to strengthen Mechita’s ‘brand’ for it to become a regional reference with economic significance, representing the social and spatial consolidation of the country through railway history in the Buenos Aires region and its influence on the growth and decay of settlements at diverse scales. . to develop productive enterprises with the railway theme as a constant. . to promote the improvement of communication systems, integrating Mechita in tourist circuits. . to propose visitor routes based on an integrated cultural and historical theme, taking into account the access, the main road, the museum (interpret- ation centre) and the various reference objects that can enrich the key message: ‘Mechita is still alive and is a paradigmatic testimony of an Argentinean railway town’. In this context, it is important to link the access road to the railway colony. It should be the starting point of the visiting circuit, ensuring the enhancement of the houses and rein- forcing the idea of travelling along the Avenue, identifying all the components of the railway system: clocks, benches, signage, trees. . topromote the links between thenatural landscape, the artificial lake, the drainage channel and the railway system, reinforced through: improvements in accessibility, the location of reference objects, the generation of additional services and facilities, the design of appropriate signage, etc. - At railway system scale 559 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 . to carry out an immediate campaign for the identi- fication of the different components, which should be rehabilitated economically, and, once the inventory mentioned above is done, to make all efforts needed to include them as part of the activities proposed by the museum. . to prepare an inventory of the stock of components and parts, which should include all existing build- ings, signs, equipment, rolling stock, furniture, clothing, supplies, machinery, etc., and an appraisal of the importance of each issue in terms of technol- ogy, place of origin, new uses, conservation status, pathologies, changes and grade of reversibility, etc. The Railway Museum, therefore, the first proposal that the Fundación Responde requested from us, has now become part of a more ambitious project. It was used as a test case to determine suitable techniques for all the other buildings involved in Mechita’s re-development master plan and the experience will be used as the basis for a general principle of intervention, involving the recovery of original materials and devices able to be preserved. Mechita’s physical and social rehabilitation progress It is already possible to identify some changes, but the recommendations were only partially implemented, with limited and diffuse results. A tour around Mechita now would reveal that: . the process of deterioration of the built heritage, including the rolling stock and existing equipment, has increased . the high percentage of aged people and the high rates of migration to nearby urban centres are still problems . the lack of sustained economic re-use proposals persists . the lack of public policies and incentives continues . the lack of legislation to regulate the growth and renewal of buildings, avoiding inappropriate inter- ventions affecting inherited physical resources remains a factor . Mechita is still isolated because of inadequate access and networks to connect it with neighbour- ing towns (figs 14, 15). Prospects We have been reflecting upon some of the problems encountered: why is it so difficult to implement the right procedures in this kind of project? Are there conditions that could not be foreseen at the time of its formulation? What kind of tools should we count upon to achieve the better results? Which actions are needed to strengthen the cooperation of the local population in achieving sustainable interventions? Is there an appropriate interaction between local governments, cooperative organis- ations and third-sector agencies when cultural heritage projects are implemented? The imposition of ‘external’ plans which ignore the local composition and genesis, territorial hierar- chies, the dominant production context and its inclusion into an integrated economic system results in failed proposals. Instead of benefits for the conservation of the heritage and a good 560 Mechita: capabilities of a railway town to promote local development Andrea Morello, Graciela Aguilar D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 quality of life for the entire community, only indiffer- ence or opposition are obtained. This makes evident the need to redefine projects taking into account local identity and site capabilities, together with inherited cultural and environmental resources. Thus, it would be possible to enhance heritage values, promote the generation of projects to stop population exodus and improve living conditions and quality of life. It is with that aim that we have proposed to reinforce the identity references of this heritage in order to generate development synergies that could integrate excluded social sectors with the project. By implementing actions for a sustainable devel- opment, it should be possible to satisfy the needs of the present generation without impairing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The main objective is to raise the quality of life, by maximising through time the productive potential of the ecosystems, using appropriate tech- nologies for this purpose, and with active public par- ticipation in key development decisions. Sustainable adaptive re-use of cultural objects acquired importance in the design of safeguarding policies and the rehabilitation of sites. An approach to cultural property from this perspective requires the application of multidisciplinary and multicultural conservation principles to establish criteria for action, through the choice of the right policy instru- ments and alertness to the detection of excluded communities that urgently need social housing pro- jects. From the earliest, the industrial heritage pro- moted change in the territory: it now constitutes a pool of opportunities for reversing the area’s critical condition. It was conceived as an open and flexible system, capable of modification, so some facts are promising: - the potential value of the land and infrastructure available and the need for its optimisation to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century - the existence of a considerable amount of indus- trial heritage assets, suitable for conversion to present demands - the opportunity to re-programme and adapt the heritage resources available to solve social 561 The Journal of Architecture Volume 17 Number 4 Figure 15. Mechita in 2012 (photograph by Andrea Morello and Graciela Aguilar). D ow nl oa de d by [ N ip is si ng U ni ve rs ity ] at 2 2: 15 0 9 O ct ob er 2 01 4 housing problems while preserving their identity, cultural reference, uniqueness, interaction with systems and subsystems, flexibility, adaptability to conversion, rescheduling and self-manage- ment - rational control of the territory and local develop- ment constitute an opportunity for rehabilitation, becoming a promising departure point for redefin- ing the problem. The great challenge is to find the means to express, regulate and resolve conflicts to enable efficient, equitable and sustainable development: social capital, collective learning and legal resources require a leading, motivating, inclusive and strategic project. Re-use through an endogenous process arising from the recognition of local identity, from the site’s capabilities and cultural and environmental resources, is the option for reversing the processes of exclusion, not just to defend conservation of the cultural heritage but to promote the generation of productive projects and to stop population exodus, inserting local economies into the regional networks of our twenty-first century world. Notes and references 1. ‘Bases y puntos de partida para la organización polı́tica de la República Argentina‘, Capı́tulo XV, Juan Bautista Alberdi: http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Bases:15. 2. This process aided Argentina’s emergence from colonial isolation, stemming from Spanish monopoly practices, and movement towards the living standards of the most advanced nations in Europe. 3. National Population Census, 2001. 4. Hence it was named after Quintana’s daughter, Mer- cedes (Mecha/Mechita is a nickname deriving from Mercedes). 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