Objective: to present a reflection on the relationships between urban imaginaries and cultural representations referring to the urban space inherited f rom the old sector of Tunja; Historical, patrimonial and cultural city representative of the Architecture and the society of the XVI century, that has prevailed until the present time in Colombia. To this end, an emphasis is placed on the period between 1968 and 1979, in which political, academic and cultural desires were expressed in the context of a modernization that was in constant tension due to the perspectives of change and prevalences that arose f rom the interests of different sectors of society and that determined expressions of material changes, use of inherited urban space, and disuse of traditional domestic architecture. Method or methodology: The approach method was made f rom a qualitative and inductive approach, with the analysis, reflection and explanatory synthesis of primary, historiographic and material sources present in the architecture and urban planning of the city. Results and conclusions: The result of the research presents the main topics of debate, as well as the actors and urban forces that influenced the historical and cultural significance of this city, and whose questioning allows to explain the main meanings that material representations had in the conformation of an urban, artistic and cultural memory, which influenced the distinction of its own identity, in the Latin American context.