Análisis espacial de las pautas de crecimiento y concentración de la población en el Ecuador. Periodo 1950-2010.

Abstract

This research studies the main patterns of spatial concentration of the population in Ecuador during the period 1950-2010. A descriptive analysis was applied at provincial level, with census information and data of the territorial extension of the provinces. In a complementary way, the indices of spatial concentration and urban primacy were applied, whose results were broadened with documentary research. Three patterns of population distribution were identified, associated with migratory processes motivated in turn by economic aspirations of the population: i) a massive migration to cover labor demands in the cocoa and banana agriculture in the provinces of Guayas and El Oro (1950-1982); Ii) intense urbanization with primacy of the capitals of province but mainly of Quito and Guayaquil (1950-2001); Iii) progressive occupation of the Amazonian territory, under the auspices of the law of agrarian reform and colonization (1974-1990); Iv) interurban migration between the main cities of the Country. The main contribution of the research is the descriptive support that it can offer to the specialists, for the discussion of the policies of equity and territorial development.