ABSTRACT
In Guayaquil, the biggest city of Ecuador, 70% of urban dwellers live in settlements with an informal origin. A gap in how urbanization in Guayaquil is conceptualized derives from limited understanding of the actual genesis of so-called ‘informal’ settlements, which remain neglected by more institutionalized planning processes. In a city with high environmental vulnerability, conflicting administrative competences have shaped the urban landscape by allowing, tolerating, and even promoting unplanned urban development. This chapter offers insight into how mixes of formal and informal processes of urban development have evolved. The past, present, and future of such everyday city-making practices are unraveled, illustrating how informality is practiced not only by the urban poor, but also by the middle classes and by the State. By focusing on the narratives from inhabitants of Monte Sinai – a peripheral expansion area of Guayaquil – and Socio Vivienda – a state-led social housing project – the chapter tells the story of the citizen’s struggle to obtain affordable homes and, more generally, their struggle for the right to the city.
