Municipalization of Cultural Heritage Preservation Policies in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Department of Architecture and Urbanism, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil

Abstract: The present work is a result from the research that investigates how the municipality of Manhumirim — MG manages its cultural heritage through its legislation and the documentation submission related to the State Law 12040/1995 [1], also known as Robin Hood Law. To carry out the work, we first studied concepts related to cultural heritage, especially its interfaces with urban planning, as well as a literature review on the theme of historic cities, establishing a contemporary view. Subsequently, we explore how the process of creation of the main heritage-related bodies in Minas Gerais took place, in order to create a timeline for the municipalization of the heritage management. Successively, we studied the municipality of Manhumirim and its legislation to ascertain how it manages its collection. Thus, it was noticed that the historical cities not recognized by IPHAN or IEPHA have difficulties to manage their cultural heritage, mainly due to political issues and lack of qualified technical staff, which is confirmed in Manhumirim.