SANTA BARBARA

NEIGHBORHOOD
A CASE OF URBAN REGENERATION THROUGH ART
Santo Domingo City, Colonial Zone: The city model implanted in this area in the 16th
century by the colonizers has an orthogonal floor plan with a public square, church,
convent and monastery, in addition to other buildings typology.
In 1509, the then authority, Diego
Colon built his palace on the northern
limit, land that was not mapped out. It
was occupied by him for his residence
and for the barracks and homes of his
troops, which is why the name of the
sector is in honor of Santa Barbara,
patron saint of soldiers and builders.
The Santa Barbara neighborhood is
located on the banks of the Ozama
River, next to the port and the royal
shipyards. Land that never had a
layout or basic infrastructure,
remained an informal and marginal
settlement.
Another factor to note is that at the beginning the neighborhood was a bit isolated due to
the higher topography compared to the rest of the city, making it more difficult to access,
which is why it was always considered the outskirts of the town.
At the end of the 16th century, a small population belonging to themilitia, people of various
trades and slaves lived in the sector. Almost all the houses in Santa Barbara were made of
wood, with very little masonry.
By the 20th century, a new social class was
established in the neighborhood, made up of
foreign merchants who began to built defined
streets, but a revolution in 1965 caused almost
the entire population of the neighborhood to
leave the place for safer territories. This gave way
to the illegal occupation of the area and the
deterioration of the neighborhood.

This area, have been characterized by the

informal settlement of people with low economic
resources and, in exception to the rest of the
colonial zone, it does not have monumental
architecture except for a parish.
Currently the neighborhood is still a marginal area of the colonial zone of Santo
Domingo. The streets and alleys are in poor condition, sometimes without
pavement, there is no sewage system, no sidewalks, and in some places, there
are no potable water services. Low-income workers live here and is commonly
associated with crime and vandalism.
In 2016, the Santa Barbara neighborhood was benefited with a project of artworks by a
group of local and international artists on several of its buildings with the purpose of
reviving the deteriorated and abandoned sector.
Thanks to these interventions it has become an attractive area for tourists and local
visitors that seek to appreciate these artworks and take advantage of the setting to
take photos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=oaPwV92VHwY
ACHIVEMENTS:
• BRING MORE BEAUTY TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
• CALL THE ATTENTION TO THIS IGNORED AREA
• INCREASE RESIDENTS JOY AND WELL-BEING,
BECAUSE OF THIS SPECIAL RECOGNITION OF
THEM AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE HISTORY
AND CITY
• ATTRACT VISITORS
• PROMOTE SOCIAL INTERACTION BETWEN
VISITORS AND LOCALS
IMPROVEMENT ASPECTS:
• LOCAL AUTHORITIES INVOLVEMENT TO
IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE: STREETS,
SIDEWALKS, ELECTRICITY, SANITARY
INSTALLATION, ETC.
• INTEGRATION OF MIX-USE, BRING
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY TO THE AREA TO
ENHANCE DYNAMISM
• CREATE CONNECTION WITH THE TOURISTIC
REST OF THE EXISTING COLONIAL ZONE