In particularly crowded Habana Vieja, sometimes 60 families or more live together in so-called cuarterías, sharing the facilities of historical buildings that were originally built as mansions or hotels.Īt the root of Old Havana’s deterioration lie the economic restrictions that Cuba has faced in the last decades. According to official estimates, 600,000 additional homes are needed to adequately house Cuba’s residents. On average, one or two buildings partially collapse every day and remind the quarter’s more than 87,000 inhabitants of the seriousness of Cuba’s housing shortage. Soon I learned that the crumbling parts of Habana Vieja face an intricate housing and infrastructure challenge. That’s why I decided to find out more about Old Havana’s decay and renewal, and how it affects its residents. Even though I had heard about it, this contrast still surprised me. Fresh fruit and little pizzas are sold on the sides and Reggaeton booms through the open doors and windows of people’s living rooms. Torn streets are lined by crumbling buildings with laundry hanging from the balconies. Only a couple of steps away, however, lie the timeworn blocks that the restoration efforts have not reached yet. In the beautifully restored parts of Habana Vieja (Old Havana), tourists and street artists fill cobbled streets, and countless restaurants advertise Caribbean delicacies in bilingual menus. Strolling through Havana’s historic city center during a recent vacation in Cuba, I was intrigued by the two contrasting worlds that coexist in this place.
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