Catalogo de Investigaciones 2018-2019

CATÁLOGO DE INVESTIGACIONES | AÑO ACADÉMICO 2018-2019 117 Socioeconomic Integration Between Coastal Cities in Western Puerto Rico: Recognizing “Porta Del Sol” as a Tourist Destination and the Opportunity Of Growth and Redevelopment of its Waterfronts The western region of Puerto Rico is recognized by a variety of attributes, among them: the abundance of natural resources, historical landmarks, rich maritime history, agricultural and fishing activity, gastronomy, and myriad of high value tourist locations, thus providing the west region of the island with its own identity from the rest of Puerto Rico. While maritime tourism seems to be particularly logical within such an environment, the current supply and condition of marinas and navigational infrastructure is quite low. This causes a disconnect within locations, activities and the potential waterborne tourism. A planned infrastructure network could stimulate the socioeconomic exchange between the different townships in the region, but a lack of a purposely designed and built infrastructure hinders such potential. The proposal intends to provide a starting point for a new waterborne economy relying on trade, tourism, large and small scale maritime activity, better business owners and entrepreneurship, while generating interest in planning strategies oriented towards sustainability, mitigation, rescue and general improvement of the bodies of water and coastal edge. alex j. garcía moreno bachillerato en arquitectura mentor: arq. raúl rivera, arq. eduardo bemúdez y arq. jesús o. garcía porta del sol identity maritime tourism navigational infrastructure sustainability