Territoire en Mouvement (Jun 2024)
L’institutionnalisation de l’agriculture urbaine à Quito : vers la formalisation d’un « droit à la ville » ? Étude du cadre discursif, normatif et des pratiques locales
Abstract
Since the 1990s, the promotion of urban agriculture by international organizations has led to the development of several programs in Latin American metropolises. In Quito, the capital of Ecuador, the implementation of the Agrupar program is particularly interesting due to the long-standing presence of agriculture and its significant stigmatization. This article explores whether the institutionalization of urban agriculture in Quito contributes to the formalization of a "right to the city." To do this, I examine, on one hand, the conditions under which Agrupar farmers are integrated into the urban space, and on the other hand, their actual participation in the production of the city.The study is presented in two phases and at two scales of analysis, referring to different objects of study: Agrupar as a discursive and normative framework at the city level, and the practices of three farmer collectives at the neighborhood level. The principal argument is that the Agrupar program does not constitute a policy of the right to the city, but it does act as a catalyst for collective action, potentially leading to "de facto right to the city" actions. The urban strategies of the farmer collectives demonstrate that integration into the city and participation in the production of everyday spaces remain central issues in popular neighborhoods, necessitating a genuinely rethinking of the interactions between urban residents and development actors.
