Tourist urbanization and occupation of land in the Hicacos Peninsula (Varadero, Cuba): Differentiated behaviors between spaces for public and private use

Abstract

Varadero is located in the Hicacos peninsula, the main tourist area in Cuba and one of the oldest and most important tourist areas in the Caribbean. Hotel development in the settlement, the specificity of the Cuban system, as well as an extensive experience in land-use planning, constitute a number of special features when compared to other similar of sun and sand destinations. Among these features, those related to land use and occupation are the most remarkable ones. The analysis and conclusions differ if we refer to hotel plots or coastal areas for public use, on one side, and the year of land urbanization and construction of the hotel, on the other side. In this regard, the approval of the Ley de Gestión de la Zona Costera [Law of Management of the Coastal Area] from 1997 represents a landmark of special importance. To study these processes, representation and spatial analysis tools present in Geographic Information Systems, as well as satellite images of very high spatial resolution were used.