Ciudades intermedias en el Ecuador

Abstract

Abstract: In the Latin American context, according to the Andean Development Community CAF (s.f.), intermediate cities are gaining more and more prominence in the socioeconomic development of the region, this because they are home to 32% of the population and can concentrate up to 17% of the GDP, therefore, will be decisive in increasing national and regional productivity and competitiveness; as well as to contribute significantly to closing the gaps between rural and urban areas; and thereby provide more prosperity to its citizens. However, in Ecuador, intermediate cities have not yet reached such prominence, so it is important to start from their recognition as such, going beyond the scope of spatial and population size, to open new perspectives that modify the hierarchy of scalar analysis and glimpse their potentialities. In this direction, the present titling work seeks to characterize the intermediate cities in Ecuador, through quantitative and qualitative variables as a baseline analysis for future studies that explain, in the Ecuadorian context, their role in economic and urban development.