Ecuador: Towards a spatial-planning management model in the framework of the Constitution

Abstract

In 2008 the South American country Ecuador approved an innovative Constitution that was
a benchmark for neighbouring countries, attributing to decentralised regional governments the
responsibility for spatial planning within their territories —an attribution that would subsequently
be extended to central government— and implicitly the design of a management model for its
application. Proposing a methodology for this design is the objective of this paper, which according
to the results of the research sets out as background the dimensions of human development that
underlie the Constitution and legislation on the distribution and exercise of the powers “planning
development” and “drawing up spatial plans”; followed by the methodology in three stages:
conceptualisation and organisation of planning and management of development; analysis and
distribution of powers; and formulation of the specific components of the model.
The conclusions indicate that the Constitution considerably decentralises the planning of
development and spatial planning, as well as a wide range of sector powers, creating a historic
opportunity for international territories to be recreated and advance towards the new development
model. Spatial planning in Ecuador is undergoing a process of adoption and its legal framework
enables certain limitations observed in Latin America to be overcome. The local ambit achieves a
level of territorial organisation and governance that make it more powerful and territorial planning
has become a remit with greater relative exclusivity or concurrence. Thus, spatial coordination and
cooperation are indispensable when it comes to achieving the constitutional goals, an objective
that requires a management model that generates the necessary regulations and political and
institutional changes.