Guayaquil: Between Protected and Private Territories

Coastal territories have historically been attractive cultural, economic and administrative centers. Guayaquil, Ecuador located in the Gulf of Guayaquil- the largest estuarine system in the pacific coast of south America- is the country´s main port and economic center. From the 1950s, urban growth has been clearly determined by private real estate investments that have led to strong territorial fragmentation, environmental deterioration, and acute socio-spatial segregation. The new expansion area of the city is debated between the private and the protected. The intense subdivision of its territory gives way to an ever-increasing construction private neighborhood that not only threatens the presence of nature reserves, watercourses, forests and hills, but also accentuate the exclusive and segregated character of the city. Based on information obtained during fieldwork, this article aims to demonstrate through a series of interpretive maps, the spatial transformation of this territory revealing the socio-environmental conflicts inherent in the current expansion model in relation to areas of high ecological value.