Three moments of migration as an urban generator: Solanda – Quito case

Abstract

This paper investigates the spatial impact of migration on city planning in Solanda, a southern neighborhood of Quito, Ecuador. Despite being considered a ‘controversial’ region in terms of resistance, radicalism, dissident behavior, and informal and unanticipated local initiatives, Solanda has become a vibrant area with a sense of collaborative activity and togetherness. This study examines the ways in which residents have negotiated space over the course of time, highlighting three significant historical periods of migration: rural migration in the 1970s and 1980s, economic bankruptcy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and regional catastrophe in 2015 and beyond. To understand tactics, occupancies, resistances, negotiations, and transformations that have occurred in Solanda, this paper focuses on the commercial street of ‘La Jota’, using cartographies as an alternative tool to represent invisible spatial relationships. The key findings of this research include: the reshaping of livable territory through negotiated spaces; the use of cartography as an effective operative tool to represent spatial processes, from single houses to the urban configuration of Solanda; and the relationship between everyday activities and collective resistance within migration.