Current Watch Site

Buenos Aires evolved from a village of 30 blocks in the mid-16th century to a vibrant national capital, largely resulting from two major periods of expansion, 1750 to 1830 and 1860 to 1950. The 3.8-square-mile (10-square-kilometer) historic center is the hub of public, religious, cultural, and political activities; it comprises the Palace of Congress, the Plaza de Mayo, and approximately 100 National Historic Monuments and an additional 800 listed properties. In 2007, the Secretary of Culture identified another 1,00 buildings as having heritage value, but are not yet unprotected.

Like so many dynamic historic cities, development pressures to accommodate growth have resulted in demolition and encroachment on the urban heritage. The average rate of construction in Buenos Aires in the past 20 years was 10.8 million square feet (1 million square meters) per year; by 2008 that rate had increased to 65 million square feet (6 million square meters) per year, a great part of which occurred in the historic center. Insufficient regulatory protections for built heritage in the city compound the problem, as does a lack of municipal leadership in stewarding such important sites as the Teatro Colón and the Iglesia San Ignacio de Loyola, the oldest church in Buenos Aires.