From Informal Housing to Housing at Risk, Preliminary Diagnosis of Some Neighborhoods in Quito

Abstract

Abstract In the second half of the twentieth century in Ecuador, collective housing projects undertaken by the state began to emerge, while informal settlements consolidated on the outskirts of the city. The way in which these neighborhoods were consolidated has had an impact on the quality of life of their inhabitants. By allowing them to identify natural, social, and anthropic risks, they have accentuated and conditioned the safety of users, such as hillside location, context, materiality, accessibility, mobility, infrastructure, etc. The research is based on a comparative study of risks in three neighborhoods of Quito, to understand that both the participation of the people and the cooperation of the regulating entity are important for giving rise to housing projects. Based on the method proposed by Livingston and supported by the literature and bibliographic review, we seek to identify the risks that are generated or emphasized in the different stages of housing, highlighting the importance of building an integrated city based on the inhabitants and their way of inhabiting the space. Finally, we seek to understand that in the creation of housing projects, the appropriation of space makes it possible to turn a neighborhood into a community that reflects the diverse way of living of the users.

Keywords

• citizen participation, social housing, informal settlements, quito.