Resumen de Threatened identity: the case of Estância, Sergipe, Brazil
Nowadays, one of the challenges for cities with less than eighty thousand inhabitants is the protection of their urban landscapes. In Brazil there are many cities with this profile which are loosing their identity, because the local authorities and the community are not aware or don�t care about this important item that makes one place different from the other. When talking about conservation of urban areas, a lot of particular intentions come out as guidance for building a correct and functional structure. The conservation of urban areas in small cities with lack of knowledge from what they really are is becoming each day more distant from our reality.
This paper will discuss this issue, based on the experience of analyzing the city of Estancia, Brazil, one place not different from many others in the country. This particular city has an urban landscape composed by many historical buildings, whose facades are covered by Portuguese tiles. This gives the city a very special identity, mainly because all the examples are concentrated in the city center, making a strong impression of the collective image. Nowadays, due to a lack of attention to these important elements, the urban fabric is changing and many buildings are being destroyed and replaced by constructions with questionable value. There has been no respect for the city that already exists and the urban landscape is now in the beginning of a big transformation. It is intended to emphasize and promote the identity of Estancia through its most precious value: the image through the icon which made the city very attractive from 1920 till 1940 � the Portuguese tiles façades.
