Dissecting the urban anatomy: modernist layers, institutional landmarks, and the Heritage-City Synergy in Cartagena

Abstract

Cartagena, Spain, is a unique Mediterranean coastal city defined by its transition from a rigid 18th-entury military stronghold to a dynamic modern center. While its ancient ruins are well-documented, the city’s later layers – specifically its modernist architecture and institutional landmarks – are often overlooked in urban discourse. This neglect creates a gap between heritage preservation and the living city, risking a “museumification” that disconnects historical sites from contemporary social life. This study posits that Cartagena’s urban identity is sustained through a “Heritage-City Synergy”. It argues that the integration of modernist aesthetics, the adaptive reuse of institutional buildings, and the performance of urban rituals act as the primary engines that transform a static historical anatomy into a vibrant, functional urban environment. The research focuses on three analytical pillars: (1) the Modernist Identity emerged from the engineering reclamation of the Almarjal lagoon; (2) the Institutional Adaptive Reuse exemplified by the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) campus within former military barracks; and (3) the urban rituals, such as the Carthaginians and Ro- mans festival, that socially re-appropriate historical spaces. The spatial scope covers the historic harbor-front, the military fringe-belt, and the Ensanche district. The findings reveal that the “Heritage-City Synergy” has successfully prevented urban obsolescence. The transformation of exclusionary military edges into academic nodes has injected new socio-economic vitality into the core, while urban rituals bridge the chronological gaps between different historical eras. This synergy ensures that Cartagena’s identity remains a living, felt experience rather than a fragmented collection of relics. This study provides a framework for managing historical port cities by emphasizing functional and social continuity. The proposed “Anatomical Decoding” framework offers a scalable methodology applicable to diverse global port typologies, from Northern European industrial waterfronts to high-density Asian maritime hubs, providing a vital tool for balancing heritage-led vitality with the pressures of contemporary urban development and tourism.