ABSTRACT
An historical overview of Ecuador's housing policies starts in the 1960s with the founding of an Ecuadorian Housing Bank (BEV) followed a decade later by the founding of an executive organization named Junta Nacional de la Vivienda (JNV). From the late 1990s until 2007 neoliberal influences resulted in a diminished role of the state in spatial planning and housing provision. With the change of administration in 2007, state responsibility for affordable housing provision across the national territory became a priority again. To synchronize policies for housing, upgrading and urban spatial planning within Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MIDUVI), a department for Habitat and Human Settlements was created parallel to the Housing department. Prior to the Correa government, a collective of approximately 33 concerned social organizations, companies, groups and individual professionals joined forces in 2005, in response to the decision of the preceding government to abolish the national housing subsidies.
