Hua Raz Fieldwork

8/13/2019 Hua Raz Fieldwork

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Contents:

Introduction............................................................................................3

Field Sketch of Huaraz from Viewpoint...................................................4

Data Collection........................................................................................7

Photos Of Transect Points.......................................................................9

Interpretation And Analysis Of Data......................................................10

Choropleth Map Showing % Of Commercial Activity.............................11

Dot Map Showing Center Of Distribution Of Commercial Activity........12Annotated Photograph of Central Plaza................................................13

Proportional Symbols Flow Map............................................................15

Conclusion..............................................................................................19

Evaluation...............................................................................................20

References..............................................................................................21

Appendix.................................................................................................22


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Introduction

We went to the city of Huaraz to do fieldwork to investigate the characteristics of the Central

Business District, and prove three hypotheses stated before the trip.

The city of Huaraz is located in the department of Ancash, Peru (Fig. 1.0). It's located about400km north of Lima (Capital of Peru). Situated in a valley called Callejn de Huaylas, betweenthe Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra mountain ranges (part of the Andes), it's located at3052m over sea level. The city is crossed by two rivers, the river Santa (north to south) and theriver Quilcay (east to west), which joins river Santa further down the valley. The town mainfunction nowadays is tourism, with human attractions such as the cathedral, monuments andparks; and physical attractions like the Huascarn and Huandoy mountains.

It also functions as a mining city. It's main mine is Antamina (Fig. 1.4 Field Sketch), a gold minelocated on a hill west of the city. It's location right in the center of the Andes in a valley witheasy access also make it an important market town, where agricultural produce is traded.Finally, as the capital of Huaraz it houses most of the government operations, making it anadministrative center.

Fig. 1.0

North

Location of Huaraz and Lima within Peru


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The hypotheses were:

The Central Plaza is the Central Business District (CBD) of Huaraz Environmental quality will increase with distance from the Central Plaza The number of pedestrians will decrease with distance from the Central Plaza

These hypotheses were formulated according to theory and LEDC settlement models. The CBDwill be in the Central Plaza because Spanish colonies in South America are commonly built fromthe plaza outwards. Also common LEDC settlement models (Fig. 1.1) tell us that the center ofthe city is the CBD, with concentric rings of housing whose quality goes down as you gooutward.

Environmental quality will increase because, even though not shown in settlement models, acommon pattern in South American cities (which oddly fits the MEDC model) is an added outerring which contains suburban high quality housing (Ring 5)(Fig. 1.2). This is common because of

Fig. 1.1

LEDC Settlement Model


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the wealthy inhabitants (mostly from Lima & abroad) who work for multinationals andimportant companies.

Finally, we should find more tourists in the Central Plaza because in most Latin American cities,the majority of historical buildings, government palaces and museums from the SpanishViceroyalty are located on or near the Central Plaza.

Fig. 1.2

MEDC ''Burgess'' Settlement Model


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Data Collection

Day 1:

On day 1 we collected data to test the hypothesis the plaza de armas is the CBD . The

city of Huaraz was divided into 6 sectors (Fig. 2.0). Our group analyzed the land use ofsector 6. We started from the bottom right next to Av. Villn, and worked northwardfrom west to east. This helps us determine the percentage of commercial land use foreach zone and block of the Huaraz city sector we surveyed. At first we circled the blocksas a group but we quickly realized that this would take too long, so we divided ourselvesinto 2 groups of 2 and did it by assigning groups of 2 to 3 blocks at a time. In this way,we did it so quickly that we had 2 hours to spare. We counted and graphed everyseparate plot (Appendix) and classified it according to this key:

Shop S Government Buildings GBank B Residential RHotel H Church +Cafe/ Restaurant C Vacant Space VTourist Services T Other O

Fig. 2.0

Satellite Image of Huaraz Showing Sectors


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Day 2:

On day 2 we collected data to test the hypotheses ''Environmental quality will increasewith distance from the Central Plaza'' and ''The number of pedestrians will decreasewith distance from the Central Plaza''. We drew a transect line (Fig 2.1) from northwest

to southeast through the city of Huaraz. Along the line we choose 7 points in which wecompleted an environmental quality survey (Fig. 3.3), rating green areas, amount oflitter, stray dogs, road quality, air pollution, noise pollution, traffic, security, amount ofinformal commerce and age of buildings in a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being excellent, 1 beingterrible. This helps us determine the environmental quality at different points in thecity, in relation with the environmental quality of the Central Plaza.

Fig. 2.1

Transect Line


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We chose this transect line because it covers the many different types of areas inHuaraz. Points 1 and 2 are located in the center of the CBD near the market. Points 3, 4and 5 are located in a moderately commercial area, where most government buildingsand parks are located. Points 6 and 7 are in a strictly residential area.

We also did a pedestrian count (Fig. 3.5) at each of the transect points. We countedpedestrians going away from and towards the central plaza for 2 minutes. Thepedestrian count was done between 10:00 AM and 02:00 PM, starting at point 1 andending at point 2. It was done at this time because it's a neutral time between the peakhours in the morning and the evening.

PHOTOS OF SELECT TRANSECT POINTS

Point 1 Point 2

Point 3 Point 4


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Interpretation and Analysis of Data

The data collected in Huaraz helped me accept or disprove the hypotheses we formulated. Landuse in Huaraz is very diverse, which different areas serving as hubs for markedly distinctindustries and types of land use (with some overlap of course). As shown by the choroplethmap showing land use in Huaraz (Fig. 3.0) Most of the commercial activity is located in thenorthwestern part of the city, nucleated around the market. It extents around the northernpart and the southwestern part as well. In the northeastern part of the city there is a big schoolwe counted as a commercial building, but I didn't include as part of the CBD in the overlay,because even though it covers a whole city block, it is just one business. As the dot map shows(Fig. 3.1), the center of commercial distribution in the city is right at the market, of course, sinceit has a total of 715 shops we counted as ''commercial'' in our land use survey (individualsurvey sheets in the appendix).

My theory for why is this so, is that in its beginnings as a Spanish colonial city (Huaraz wasrecognized as a tax collection area by Francisco Pizarro in 1538) Huaraz grew from the centralplaza outward. This central area served as the CBD for years until the floods of 1941 whichdevastated the city, with further damage from the earthquake and subsequent avalanche in1970. When they came to rebuilding the city, they separated the CBD from the historic center.Some of the reasons to do this were strategic, as in the past the avalanches and floods camefrom the northwestern part of the city (the CBD would serve as a ''shield'' for the culturalcenter). Another reason is, as it often happens in Latin American countries, they take greatpride in their history and culture, thus building the CBD away from the Central Plaza would

leave cultural heritage sites ''undisturbed''. See annotated photograph of the Central Plaza (Fig.3.2)

Central Plaza of Huaraz 10


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The results of our environmental quality survey (Fig. 3.3) were markedly different at eachpoint, and did in fact fit our predictions (''Environmental quality will increase with distance fromthe Central Plaza"), albeit not perfectly.

It's clear how scores go up dramatically at points 3,4 and 5 (3.8, 3.9 and 4.2, respectively) whichare in the central area of the city (on average an entire point above other points). These pointsscore over the average, while points 1 and 2 at the northwestern part of the city (in the CBD)and points 6 and 7 in the southeastern part (mostly residential), score below average. This wasexpected, since being a large touristic city, the local government invests money into keepingthe city center, where most government offices & attractions are located (e.g. historicalbuildings, church & central plaza) very clean and safe (Central Plaza Annotated Photograph, Fig.3.2). Points 1 and 2 are located in a very commercial area. This is where the market is located,which has the largest concentration of commercial establishments in Huaraz {715}.

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

S c o r e

Point in City

Line Graph Showing Scores in EnvironmentalQuality Survey

Score

Average

Fig. 3.3


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It's environmental quality score wasn't as high because the activities that take place here createpollution, noise, and a large amount of informal commerce (Fig. 3.4). Large trucks transportgoods (mostly crops and cattle) in and out of the market, while noise is created by a largeamount of buyers who shout and litter the area. Taking advantage of large crowds, informal

vendors set up outside the market and sell their goods.

The pedestrian count yielded precise results (Fig. 3.5). The transect line goes from northwest tosoutheast, and the amount of pedestrians goes down accordingly. Each sample was taken

during 2 minutes, all between 11 AM and 2 PM. At point 1, the total amount of pedestrians was46, the highest of all our counts. This is because, as mentioned before, point 1 is where themarket is located, which is by far the most commercial area of the city. An equal amount ofpedestrians headed towards and away from the plaza (23). Buyers, vendors, and tourists fill thearea, especially during the evening. At points 2 and 3 we counted 35 and 27 pedestriansrespectively. Point 2 is near the market, but also near the Central Plaza, which creates roughlyequal push and pull (15 towards the plaza, 20 away from the plaza). Point 3 presents an

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1

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7

S c o r e

Point in City

Bar Graph Showing Scores of EnvironmentalQuality Survey for Specific Criteria

Score for Litter

Score for Traffic

Score for Security

Score for Informal Commerce

Fig. 3.4

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anomaly. It is in the CBD, and the main attraction near the area is the Central Plaza, but morepeople were heading away from it than to it (9 towards the plaza, 18 away from the plaza). Thismay be because the count was taken in the morning, before lunch breaks and tourist trips start.Point 4's data was as we expected. It's the point that is nearest the plaza, so many more people

headed towards it than away from it (17 towards the plaza, 9 away from the plaza) for a total of26. See proportional symbols flow map (Fig. 3.6).

Points 5 and 6 were located in a mainly residential area, near a park. This explains why counts

were low. The number of pedestrians going towards the plaza is really high because the mainflow of people is towards the CBD, since this area houses the people that work in it. The resultswere a total of 10 and 7 pedestrians for points 5 and 6 respectively. Point 7 had no pedestrians.This is because it was the furthest point from the CBD, and is mainly residential. Also point 7'scount was done roughly at lunch time, when most people are at home or in restaurants nearthe CBD.

0

5

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3540

45

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7

N u m

b e r o

f P e

d e s t r i a n s

Point in City

Bar Graph Showing Number Of Pedestrians inHuaraz

Pedestrian Count Away From Plaza

Pedestrian Count Towards Plaza

Fig. 3.5

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Conclusion

The hypothesis ''The central plaza is the central business district of Huaraz'' is not true. Eventhough the Central Plaza is in the CBD, it's not the CBD (Fig. 3.0). In fact, the center ofdistribution of commercial activity in Huaraz is on the market, as shown in the dot map (Fig.3.1).

The hypothesis ''Environmental quality will increase with distance from the Central Plaza'' isnot true. The environmental quality survey (Fig. 3.3) clearly shows the opposite. Scores arehighest at points 4 and 5, and it actually decreases with distance from the Central Plaza, whichfits with the LEDC settlement model (Fig.1.1).

The hypothesis ''The number of pedestrians will decrease with distance from the CentralPlaza'' is interesting. It's true towards the southeast but not towards the northwest from theplaza. The actual results present a gradient from northwest to southeast (Fig. 3.5).

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Evaluation

Testing the hypothesis '' The central plaza is the central business district of Huaraz'' , the datacould have been much more accurate. Although the data collected matches expectations aswell as our initial rough observations, the techniques used to collect data weren't perfect.

We only surveyed the land use of the first level of buildings. This isn't a problem in residentialareas, where buildings have one or two levels, but creates a problem in commercial areaswhere many buildings have multiple businesses on different floors.

Also, since most of the buildings classified as ''Other'' were services (mainly photocopy centers),we counted them as commercial establishments, although some weren't, making our resultsslightly inaccurate. Another problem was some buildings had tall walls or generic looking gateswith no signs, making them difficult to know what they were and classify them.

To make results more accurate, we could have actually asked land-owners for details of thebuilding, but this would have been very time consuming, and we only had 1 day to survey theentire city.

Testing the hypothesis ''Environmental quality will increase with distance from the CentralPlaza'' , we could have made results more accurate by testing more criteria than we did, as wellas surveying more points in the city.

The testing for ''The number of pedestrians will decrease with distance from the CentralPlaza'' was the test with the most room for improvement, since we took 2 minute samples. By

increasing the sample time we could have been more accurate. Also, samples were taken atdifferent times of the day. Point 1 was taken at peak time(morning) while points 6 and 7 weretaken during lunch time (low pedestrian activity).

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References

Huaraz (Community Written) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaraz Huaraz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

Huascarn (Community Written) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huascar%C3%A1n Huascarn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia...

Portal Oficial IGP - http://www.igp.gob.pe/portal/ Instituto Geofsico del Per

Barcelona Field Studies Center (Settlement Model Images) -http://geographyfieldwork.com/GeographyFieldworkPackages.htm Geography Fieldwork Packages

Map Data From Google Maps - https://maps.google.com/

Map of the central area of Huaraz Satellite images of the central area of Huaraz Extended map of the city of Huaraz (Flow Arrows)

(Map Data 2013 Google, Inav/Geosystems SRL, MapLink, Mapcity)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huarazhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huarazhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huarazhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huascar%C3%A1nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huascar%C3%A1nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huascar%C3%A1nhttp://www.igp.gob.pe/portal/http://www.igp.gob.pe/portal/http://www.igp.gob.pe/portal/http://geographyfieldwork.com/GeographyFieldworkPackages.htmhttp://geographyfieldwork.com/GeographyFieldworkPackages.htmhttps://maps.google.com/https://maps.google.com/https://maps.google.com/https://maps.google.com/http://geographyfieldwork.com/GeographyFieldworkPackages.htmhttp://www.igp.gob.pe/portal/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huascar%C3%A1nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaraz


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Hua Raz Fieldwork