The politics of public construction in a globalized world Imagining urban space in Ecuador

The study focuses on how projects of Ecuadorian public construction driven by the State and by city authorities are entangled with notions of globalization and modernity. To show this entanglement, I analyze the planning and construction process of four urban projects: the new Mariscal Sucre airport in Quito; the Millennium Communities in the Amazonian region; the Yachay university/technological hub located in the north of the country; and, finally, local monuments placed by municipal authorities on the northern coast. The first three case studies are State-driven and, due to their high cost and national impact, can be described as mega structures or mega projects (Flyvbjerg, 2014); the fourth provides an example of public construction driven by local interests. Each of these cases, approached through a close reading of planning documents, news coverage and interviews with key actors, and a fieldwork-based analysis of the projects’ spatial situation and use, reveals aspects of the dynamic relationship between urban planning, politics, spatial imaginaries (local, national and global) and socio-cultural values. Taken together, they show how the authorities and technicians driving urban construction adapt their projects to what they perceive as a modern and/or globalized context. Each structure, once built, is seen to reflect the imaginaries, dreams and desired futures authorities and technicians have in mind when thinking about urban space and its design.