Recreation and leisure at Faria Neves Square: challenge for management conservation of a public and heritage space in Recife, Brazil

Abstract

The Faria Neves Square located on the Dois Irmãos neighborhood at Recife city, is a historic garden, protected by the National Institute of the Artistic and Historic Patrimony in 2015, with five others designed by the landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx. It was created providing for leisure, such as contemplation and children's recreation, as a hall to Dois Irmãos State Park, an extensive green area where the zoo is located. However, because of the urban changes on the public spaces, new possibilities and demands have emerged as a challenge for public managers, mainly because they are historic heritage. Based on the concept of public space and on the principles of integrated conservation, this paper aims to identify the main recreation and leisure activities developed in that square, as well as to point out, in a preliminary way, some guidelines for a shared management of this urban historic garden.