Metropolization in Ecuador: challenges in the institutionalization of the Metropolitan District of Guayaquil (1992-2023)

Abstract

Urbanization of in Latin American metropolitan areas poses significant challenges due to real estate development, often exceeding the planning capacity of the municipalities. In Ecuador, the largest cities in terms of size and population are Quito and Guayaquil, experiencing metropolizations of peculiar traits due to geographic, social, and political aspects. The study discusses the political and historical conditions that have hindered the creation and implementation of the Metropolitan District of Guayaquil.  Methodologically, the research is classified as documentary and historiographic, supported by empirical evidence from the territory of the cantons of Guayaquil, Durán, Samborondón, and Daule. Its principal results show that, in the metropolization of Guayaquil, some political representatives of or belonging to an elite have influenced the urbanization of areas of economic interest, and others ended up marginalized and excluded from metropolitan growth outside of planning and technical regulations.