Introduction: Urban Centres in Asia and Latin America: Heritage and Identities in Changing

Worldwide cities are undergoing fundamental transformations. A large part of these shifts is taking place in the Global South, where urban change is comparably more dynamic, but often following global trends and resulting in increasing uniform urban layouts. At the same time trends towards more regionalism can be observed, backed by identity discourses. Historic city centres in particular became focal points of this debate, suffering continuous pressure of transformation while being portrayed as the holder of urban uniqueness. Cities worldwide made a turn towards the appreciation of their tangible and intangible heritage. This is particularly challenging in the Global South where heritage was somehow regarded as luxury or touristic feature for a long time, while focal areas of intervention were related to provision of adequate housing and infrastructure for growing cities. This research analyses the importance of urban heritage and its potential for a sustainable urban development in the case of three selected cities in Asia and Latin America. The overall goal is to gain a deeper understanding on the sociocultural construction of identity in historic city centres in the Global South, its differences and similarities against the background of the global heritage debate.