Impact of Urban Growth on Traditional Architecture of Coastal Areas: Review and Interpretation in Huanchaco

Xiomara M.; Castillo-Alvarado C-A.; Enrique C.; Vascones-Juarez V-J.; Arturo F.; Arteaga-Avalos A-A. · Legado de Arquitectura y Diseno (2025) · DOI: 10.36677/legado.v20i38.25376

Resumen

This article examines the impact of urban growth on traditional architecture in coastal settings, using the coastal sector of Huanchaco (Peru) as an interpretive refe-rence. Through a narrative review with analytical systematization of 25 indexed sources — predominantly from Scopus (80%), with supplementary coverage from Web of Science, Scielo,Redalyc, Dialnet, OpenEdition, and national institutional repositories — three interrelated dimensions of impact were identified: physical, cultural, and territorial. In the physical dimension, a progressive displacement of vernacular building typologies (adobe and quincha) by standardized cons-truction is documented, driven by land valorization and real estate pressure. In the cultural dimension, processes of hybridization and the erosion of local identities linked to the built heritage are evidenced. In the territorial dimension, the fragmentation of the coastal edge is observed, associated with touristification, weak governance frameworks, and re-gulatory insufficiency. The interpretive analysis applied to the Coastal Sector of Huanchaco reveals that its transformations conform to structural patterns recurrently documented in comparable Latin American littoral contexts. It is concluded that an unresolved tension persists between urban modernization and heritage preservation. The development of interdisciplinary empirical studies is reco-mmended to strengthen urban planning instruments and promote the active conservation of traditional coastal architecture as a strategic asset for sustainable development.

Instituciones: Universidad César Vallejo