Cohesión barrial y desplazamiento de habitantes y de usos en la parroquia de San Blas, Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract

This study examines the effects of land-use and resident displacement in the parish of San Blas, Cuenca (Ecuador), and its impact on neighbourhood cohesion. Employing a qualitative approach, three complementary techniques were used: a literature review that reconstructed a timeline of the neighbourhood’s urban evolution over the past six decades; focus groups, selected through stratified sampling, involving former residents who have been displaced and current residents with more than ten years of tenure; and social cartography, which graphically captured shared perceptions of the neighbourhood’s “heart,” land-use patterns, and key socio-spatial activities. Findings reveal a progressive decline in traditional social and cultural practices alongside a shift in land use from predominantly residential to chiefly commercial— a dual dynamic that has eroded community ties and reduced day-to-day interaction and collective identity. Drawing on this evidence and on successful experiences in comparable contexts, the study not only confirms the direct relationship between displacement and social fragmentation but also proposes strategies to mitigate the loss of neighbourhood cohesion while preserving the sector’s social and economic viability, thereby providing a strategic framework replicable in other Latin American historic centres.