The Social Production of the Territory in Periurban Spaces of Ecuador. The Rural Parish of Cutuglagua (Mejia Canton – Pichincha Province) 1990 – 2020

Abstract

The social production of the territory - PST is the result of socio-spatial practices, appropriation strategies and the presence of cultural elements, which different actors exert on a territory. The research problem is framed in understanding how the PST is constituted based on the process of appropriation and social representation of the territory by the local actors of Cutuglagua and Uyumbicho (surrounding suburbs of Quito).

The social production of the territory (PST) is the result of socio-spatial practices, appropriation strategies and cultural elements that different actors exert on a territory. The research problem of this paper is focused in understanding how the PST is constituted based on the process of appropriation of the territory by the local actors of Cutuglagua (southern peri-urban area of Quito). For this purpose, an ethnographic and geographical research method was employed and a field diary, observation tours and interviews were used as data collection instruments. The results in the Cutuglagua PST are directly connected to poverty, rural-urban migration, lack of infrastructure and basic services, which denote limited opportunities to raise the standard of living with local resources. In Cutuglagua, three stages are identified in the PST, the first of which is located at the level of "territorialized aspirations", with obtaining your home; the second refers to the type of "anchorage" in the territory; in Cutuglagua, demographic growth and peri-urbanization are dynamic and constant with the arrival of new settlers. In these scenarios, adults who establish their residence in the peripheral neighborhoods, as a completion of the rural-urban migration process, choose to remain in these peri-urban spaces even though they have their job in the city. The third constitutes the way of "inhabiting", describes the challenges that the population of Cutuglagua had to overcome to constitute a new territory or reterritorialize it.