Ecobarrios resilientes: estrategias de urbanismo adaptativo en urbanizaciones cerradas de Vía a la Costa, Guayaquil. Caso de estudio: Barrio Las Ramblas, urbanización Terranostra.

Abstract

The expansive and fragmented urban growth in Guayaquil has led to a proliferation of gated communities which, although offering security and internal order, weaken urban resilience and the sustainability of neighborhoods in the face of environmental risks and socio-territorial changes. According to architect Teresa Pérez de Murzi (2018), this pattern has been marked by “territorial dispersion, a form of urban expansion that is at odds with sustainability.” As a result, it has consolidated city models where infrastructure, mobility, and public space have limitations that affect everyday livability. The problem with the case study, Las Ramblas, Terranostra, is that it is a neighborhood with a weak sustainable urban structure. Due to the lack of internal facilities and space designed mostly for cars, socio-spatial segregation is generated, reducing community coexistence. As a result, the dynamics that should fuel urban resilience and sustainability are almost non-existent. For this reason, this research considers the urban resilience and sustainability indicators identified by UN-Habitat that are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) and 13 (Climate action). In addition, it incorporates the methodological approach of adaptive urbanism, which recognizes that neighborhoods are dynamic systems whose elements evolve in response to crises, user behaviors, and opportunities in the territory (Arraigada et al, 2023). Given that urban resilience and sustainability are built at the neighborhood level, considering the neighborhood as the basic unit of urban and social organization (LOOTUGS, n.d.), this study proposes to critically analyze the Las Ramblas stage using an approach capable of interpreting real behaviors and diagnosing shortcomings in order to propose urban adaptation strategies that strengthen the sustainability and urban resilience of the stage.