Quito’S Urban Imaginaries: Between Conserved and Intervened Green Spaces

Abstract

This manuscript presents the results of field research aimed to identify the perceptions that condition the urban imaginaries addressing the green spaces in Quito, Ecuador. Two focus groups were carried out with experts in designing green spaces. The results were evaluated through discourse analysis, applying the dialectical hermeneutical method, to finally establish open, axial, and selective categories. Six categories allow the understanding of the imaginaries associated with the city’s green spaces: conserved or intervened spaces, public and private spaces, and individual and collective subjectivity in relation to green areas; also relevant are the interventions of actors such as the state, the real estate market, and the community in the management of these spaces. In the city, conserved green spaces, such as urban and peri-urban forests, are for contemplative use and would be less attractive to the population than provoked green spaces, the latter of which are characterized by facilitating human interaction and by having the direct intervention of public institutions. The identification of public and private green spaces was related to potential forms of urban segregation. Participants stated that privileged social groups have direct access to customized architectural designs, whereas community organizations manage these spaces through social action.