La contracción espacial y la proximidad territorial entre la ciudad de Quito y el valle de Tumbaco (2010-2019)

Abstract

Since 1950, Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, has experienced accelerated economic and political growth. This development has reshaped the socio-space, generating emerging peri-urban areas near the city. The present study is a multitemporal analysis of the mechanisms of urban mobility that defined the spatial shrinkage between Tumbaco Valley (urban periphery) and the city of Quito (urban center). By applying territorial and spacial approaches, an Optimal Route model was quantified in a geographic information system. The socio-spatial transformations of peri-urban areas were determined by combining spatial, demographic, and socioeconomic variables. The results indicate that such transformations are derivated from the mechanisms of spatial shrinkage to the urban center. Therefore, the center-peripheral proximity explains most of the accelerated urbanization of the peri-urban areas of Quito.