Public space in Quito Ecuador. An innovative tool to employ the territorial development

Abstract

The paper discusses the concept of public space implemented by the Quito Metropolitan District Municipality (MDMQ) 2009-2014 as a source of social capital and territorial cohesion. The findings show the concept is understand more broadly that urbanist tradition. The concept includes a traditional perspective, a dynamic perspective, an environmental perspective and a social perspective. Its introduction in local government was endowed with its own budget programs, ensuring the sustainability of a community policy. Public space is an instrument of sectoral coordination, whose interpretation as a transverse program helps new release to address existing scientific studies. Furthermore, public space is an instrument for ex post project evaluations, to bring the discussion of territorial cohesion to a tangible level of the population and the local administration and to discuss a territorial perspective of social capital.