Understanding urban inequality: a comparative analysis of three cases from Quito, Ecuador

Cities exist within unique sociospatial contexts, acting as magnifiers of larger socioeconomic processes and relationships. This thesis explores the history of urban inequality in Ecuador and its relationship to inequality in Latin America. It offers a comparative analysis of attempts by various actors to address urban inequalities in Metropolitan Quito: the first case is the Environmental Sanitation Program, a top-down project funded by the Inter-American Development Bank; the second is the Program of Participatory Urban Agriculture, a project administered by the City of Quito that takes a middle-ground approach to local-skills development; and the third case, the Association of Women Fighting for Life, uses a grassroots approach to create low-income housing. A critical analysis of the effects of these projects to address physical, state, and socio-cultural barriers and contribute to socio-economic empowerment is used to offer a series of lessons-learned about how to overcome urban inequalities in Quito and elsewhere.