La ciudad intermedia en la escala regional; el caso de Cuenca-Ecuador

Abstract

Intermediate cities and their influence with the region present important features that characterize them, which is why adequate planning is necessary to ensure proper growth and thus the welfare of its inhabitants. In Ecuador, the normative frame of reference, established through the Organic Code of Territorial Organization, Autonomy and Decentralization (COOTAD) and with other normative instruments that are based on the 2008 Constitution, have established the responsibilities and attributions of the Local Governments. in the subject matter of study, having as central axis the study "The intermediate city in the regional scale; the Cuenca-Ecuador case "

This research identifies the influence that the intermediate city has on a regional scale, taking as a case study the city of Cuenca in its region, but with a vision that allows proposing development strategies from the city to the region. For this, the study has been based on techniques of qualitative and quantitative data collection and processing, allowing the analysis to be descriptive-conclusive; Subsequently, a methodological scheme was applied that guided the formulation of strategic recommendations to support the local development of Cuenca towards its area of influence.

Under this context, it is sought to identify the influence that the intermediate city has in its region in order to provide a conceptual and methodological basis of territorial analysis that admits the design of spatial planning strategies, for which purpose it was proposed to delimit the intermediate city of the city of Cuenca considering as variables of analysis the migration towards Cuenca, the Annual Average Daily Traffic (TPDA), destiny of the provincial capitals in relation to Cuenca, mobility for health, mobility for higher education and origin of basic basket products. With this, make recommendations to develop a territorial strategy from the intermediate city of Cuenca to the region.

With this background it was posed as a research question: What is the region of the intermediate city of Cuenca? Same thing that we tried to answer in the course of the study by means of the variables analyzed for the effect, in the same way the following sub-hypotheses were studied:

 H1 = Characterize the intermediate city of Cuenca contributes to establish territorial development strategies  H2 = The management influences the integral development planned by the governing entities in the territory  H3 = Internal mobility to Cuenca is a relevant factor to consider it as an intermediate city

Based on the results obtained through exploratory research it was possible to show that Cuenca has several elements of intermediation that make it a city with significant growth expectations, which motivate to establish strategic baselines to improve planning processes and thereby local development with a regional focus.