Land Use Diversication in the Elite Residential Sector of Quito, Ecuador*

Roy H. Ryder University of South Alabama

It is generally assumed that older mansions in the elite residential sector of Latin American cities lter down to the middle classes once their residents migrate to modern suburban homes. Five land use maps compiled between 1975 and 1999 show that the elite residential sector of Quito (Mariscal Sucre) experienced a much more complex fate. Diffusion of nonresidential land uses from the city center and its associated spine transformed the residential neighborhood into a vibrant upper-scale business district. Sophisticated businesses subsequently moved on to modern suburban facilities, but Mariscal Sucre became a major hub for business, nocturnal entertainment, and tourism. Diversication of land use in Mariscal Sucre conrms the Crowley hypothesis of complexity in Latin American urban land use patterns (Crowley 1995). Key Words: Latin America, Ecuador,
Quito, urban land use, elite residential sector.

Introduction
rowley (1995, 1998) has criticized prevalent models of Latin American urban morphology for being simplistic. Accustomed to relatively uniform tracts of land use governed by zoning legislation in their own cities, North American and European geographers attempt to incorporate similar homogeneous components in their Latin American urban models. Thus, the classic Grifn-Ford model (Grifn and Ford 1980) suggests that the Latin American city can be perceived as the composite of only ve major zonal components. Commercial and industrial activities are concentrated in a central business district but diffuse outward along a single dominant transportation axis (the spine). An elite residential sector is located on both sides of the spine while the remainder of urban space is composed of three concentric zones of housing in which residential quality decreases with distance from the center. A revised version of the Grifn-Ford model (Ford 1996) and proposals by Bahr and Mertins (1981) and Arreola and Curtis (1993) offer more intricate conceptual frameworks. Crowley (1995, 1998) believes, however, that they also fail to depict the intrinsic disorder of a large

proportion of Latin American urban space that results from nonexistent or neglected zonal regulations. Crowleys alternative proposition (Crowley 1995) is a complex overlay of three separate land use schemes (residential, industrial, and commercial) in which dispersed businesses and industrial installations are superimposed on residential zones. Ford (1996) considers the Crowley scheme overwhelmed with detail and incomprehensible.1 Some of the controversy over the nature of urban space in Latin America might be resolved with detailed examination of common specific components of land use models. Two prominent features of both simple and complex models of Latin American cities are the elite residential sector and its associated spine. The objective of this paper is to examine macro-scale theoretical concepts of the elite residential sector and the spine in the specific context of Quito, Ecuador. The article addresses the following questions: (1) What is the general perception of the elite residential sector and the spine among researchers of Latin American urban morphology? (2) How well do the spine and elite residential sector of Quito conform to theoretical specications? (3) The Grifn-Ford model implies a three-stage evolutionary improvement of lower

* Fieldwork for this research was supported by Centro Panamericano de Estudios e Investigaciones Geogracas, Quito (1981), the Tinker Foun dation (1987), the National Science Foundation (1993), and the University of South Alabama Research Council (1999). The author also gratefully acknowledges encouragement and constructive comments from A. Stewart Fotheringham, Lawrence A. Brown, and anonymous reviewers.

The Professional Geographer, 56(4) 2004, pages 488502 r Copyright 2004 by Association of American Geographers. Initial submission, October 2002; revised submission, August 2003; nal acceptance, October 2003. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, U.K.

Land Use Diversication in the Elite Residential Sector of Quito, Ecuador

class housing from squatter homes through zones of in situ accretion to mature neighborhoods; do changes also occur with time in the elite residential sector? (4) Does detailed study of the elite residential sector support Crowleys hypothesis of complexity in Latin American urban land use patterns? Careful examination of historical change is a prerequisite for the understanding of the dynamics of urban growth (Sheck 1969). The ndings presented in this article are derived from a unique long-term chronological study of Mariscal Sucre, the original elite residential sector of Quito (Figure 1). Maps of the neighborhood were compiled in the eld at six-year intervals and processed to identify changes in land use between 1975 and 1999. Land use allocation was determined by map measurements, and underlying processes of land use conversion were examined using transition matrices. There are well-known applications of transition matrices to the analysis of urban areas in Europe and North America (Bourne 1969; Lever 1972; Jahan 1986), but the scarcity of reliable longterm land use information has hindered their use in Latin America. Longitudinal data generated by this study of Mariscal Sucre has made it possible to take advantage of this neglected research tool. The remaining text is divided into four sections. First, there is a review of relevant literature in order to dene the theoretical concepts of the spine and the elite residential sector. Second, I provide an overview of the historical development of the elite residential sector in Quito. The third section presents the ndings of the longitudinal mapping study of Barrio Mariscal Sucre. The concluding discussion compares observations in Quito to theoretical concepts of the elite residential sector and the spine. It will be shown that the origin and exotic architecture of Mariscal Sucre are similar to that of other Latin American elite residential sectors. On the other hand, whereas aging elite sectors in other Latin American cities are believed to retain their residential function and lter down to less wealthy inhabitants, this study will demonstrate that Mariscal Sucre underwent a dramatic transformation caused by diffusion of upper-scale nonresidential land uses from its associated spineAvenida Diez de Agosto. Transition matrices will reveal that the conversion of residences to business facilities

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was not a simple linear process but was characterized by great locational instability. It will be shown also that the nature of business activities has changed with time.

Theoretical Framework
The Spine There is some confusion in the geographic literature about the spine, so it is necessary to review prevailing opinions and outline a working definition of this important theoretical concept. According to Grifn and Ford, the spine is present in all Latin American cities. They classify the spine as a commercial feature in their initial thesis (Grifn and Ford 1980, 407), and the revised model (Ford 1996) emphasizes this commercial orientation. Detailed empirical descriptions of Bogota and Tijuana by the same authors suggest, however, that spines are characterized by a wide diversity of commercial, recreational, institutional, and industrial land uses including stores, light industry, used car lots, hotels, restaurants, ofce buildings, private schools, social clubs, and embassies. Indeed, they state that almost everything of importance to the city of Tijuana is located in the spine (Grifn and Ford 1980, 418). Arreola and Curtis (1993) and Crowley (1995) also consider the spine to be a fundamental component of Latin American city structure. Their structural models, however, include additional major commercial strips (Arreola and Curtis 1993) or arterials (Crowley 1995) radiating outward from the city center. Furthermore, although only one spine is shown on their general graphical model of Mexican border cities, Arreola and Curtis (1993) suggest that Matamoros, Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Juarez, and Mexicali have at least two spines. In another study, Arreola and Curtis (1994) also identify two spines in Chihuahua (Avenidas Universidad and Antonio Ortiz Mena). Inspection of the Arreola-Curtis and Crowley graphical models suggests that spines are differentiated from commercial strips by their greater spatial association with elite residential housing, shopping centers, and other commercial establishments that target relatively afuent consumers. With respect to their physical appearance, spines are generally broad, divided by medians,

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Figure 1 Location of Mariscal Sucre neighborhood in Quito.

lined with high-rise buildings, and adorned with imposing monuments constructed on trafc circles (Arreola and Curtis 1993). Crowley (1995) believes that the spine almost always originated as an axis of residences for the elite as they moved out from the city center in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Commercial establishments and ofces subsequently penetrated the street chasing residential uses to neighboring blocks (Crowley 1995, 22). Establishment surveys by Arreola and Curtis (1993) show that commerce in the core of Mexican border towns is characterized by Hispanic traditions and pedestrians, while business along the spine has a North American orientation and serves citywide clients with access to automobile transportation. It can be concluded, therefore, that the Latin American city has one or more prominent business-oriented avenues, called spines, that radiate outward from the city center. Spines are distinguished from other major commercial strips by outstanding architecture, proximity to elite residential sectors, and a wide array of modern nonresidential facilities (including shopping centers) that cater to the commercial, nancial, institutional, administrative, and recreational needs of afuent consumers with automobiles. The Elite Residential Sector The upper classes of Latin American urban society originally lived in the heart of the

city, which was characterized by mixed land use. Wealthy homes, businesses, administrative buildings, and institutions were all close to the prestigious main square. Residences of the poor were located away from central streets but still within walking distance of the center of the city (Ward 1998). From the 1920s onward, with the development of improved transportation systems, wealthy residents began to migrate from the congested downtown area to a chosen attractive portion of the urban periphery (Yujnovsky 1975; Portes and Walton 1976; Portes 1977; Gilbert 1996). Country estates and weekend homes located close to the road into town were replaced with a new suburban elite neighborhood. While wealthy residences in the city center were traditional Hispanic, wall-towall, courtyard houses, custom-built fashionable homes in the new elite sector were detached and exhibited a wide range of architecture as the upper classes tried to outdo their peers in ever more exotic designs (Ward 1998). The road linking the upper-class homes to downtown subsequently became a spine. Indeed, the spatial association between the elite residential sector and the spine is so significant that Grifn and Ford refer to both features jointly as the spine/ sector (Grifn and Ford 1980).2 Grifn and Ford (1980) point out that highincome groups in Bogota and Tijuana subsequently migrated from the elite sector farther

Land Use Diversication in the Elite Residential Sector of Quito, Ecuador

down the spine to even more modern homes in the urban periphery. Repeated centrifugal movements of the upper classes transformed the initial elite neighborhood into an extended wedge of upper-class housing. Similar leapfrogging of the elite to new peripheral residential sectors has been observed in other Latin American cities by Amato (1970) and Ward (1993, 1998). The general structural models designed by Bahr and Mertins (1981) and Arreola and Curtis (1993) also show elite neighborhoods decreasing in age from the city center to the periphery. While many upper-class residents relocated in this manner within the extended wedge of elite housing, some chose to establish their new homes in other parts of the urban periphery with desirable environmental attributes. This trend is recognized by Hoffman (1983) and Crowley (1995), whose models show a primary wedge of elite residences along the spine, together with a smaller zone of upper-class housing on another arterial with access to the city center. Wards ecological model of Mexico City (Ward 1998) has two distinct wedges, together with dispersed nodes of elite/uppermiddle-class housing. Grifn and Ford (1980) and Ward (1998) believe that homes left behind in the original elite residential sector lter down to upper-middleclass families. Bahr and Mertins (1992, 1993) have examined the rise and fall of elite neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro and have shown that nonresidential functions may penetrate main roads in the elite sector. Copacabana originated between 1900 and 1920 as an area of weekend upper-class houses, but was transformed into the most fashionable residential area of Rio de Janeiro by the 1960s. High-rise apartments replaced most of the single-family residences in the neighborhood. Upper-class-oriented businesses and services spread from the city center to Copacabana and occupied the ground oors of high-rise apartment buildings on main thoroughfares. Resultant excessive population densities and deterioration of the high-rise buildings motivated the upper classes to migrate to more peripheral elite areas (Leblon and Ipanema), while rejected Copacabana homes ltered down to lower and middle classes. Bahr and Mertins believe that the new elite neighborhoods will eventually experience a similar fate. In synthesis, the elite residential sector originated in the early twentieth century Latin

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American city when improved transportation along spines permitted the upper classes to commute to downtown from new exotic mansions constructed in selected attractive suburban settings. Subsequent centrifugal migration to more modern homes produced extended wedges and peripheral nodes of elite housing. Grifn and Ford (1980) and Ward (1998) believe that the original architecturally diverse residences of the elite sector lter down to less wealthy occupants. Bahr and Mertins (1992, 1993) concur, but they observe preceding profound structural changes. Single-family dwellings are replaced with high-rise luxury apartments while upper-scale businesses occupy the ground oors of apartment buildings on main roads. The remainder of this article examines theoretical concepts of the spine and the elite residential sector in the specific context of Quito. It is helpful to begin with a brief history of the origin, growth, and transformation of Quitos initial elite residential sector, Mariscal Sucre.

A Historical Overview of Land Use Change in Mariscal Sucre

The historic colonial center of Quito is almost completely surrounded with steep slopes to the west, south, and east. As a result, when wealthy residents began to move out of the center of the city in the 1920s, they built their new homes to the north on the gently sloping land of Mariscal Sucre (Hoyt 1963; Sheck 1969). In 1922, most of the thirty residences were preexisting haciendas. Ten years later, an electric trolley on Avenida Diez de Agosto connected the new elite residential sector to downtown, and the number of homes had risen to 120 (Gonzalez, Sosa, and Merino 1993). As observed in other Latin American cities (Grifn and Ford 1980; Arreola and Curtis 1993; Ward 1998) residents of Mariscal Sucre competed against their peers to construct the most eye-catching residence. The exotic constructions included homes built to resemble castles, Swiss chalets, English country homes, Asian temples, Mediterranean villas, and Spanish haciendas. By 1955, the neighborhood was almost completely built up, there were fourteen embassies and consulates, and the trolley had given way to transportation by bus or automobile. The 1950s

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Adaptation of mansions in Mariscal Sucre took many forms. Some residence owners rented garages for small business ventures such as corner stores, boutiques, and hair salons. Others leased the entire ground oor of a residence for a retail establishment, ofce, restaurant, or bar. In this case, the residence frequently underwent substantial structural alterations, including the conversion of gardens into a parking lot. Eventually, when residents tired of the noise and moved elsewhere, the upper oors also were captured for nonresidential use. Larger former mansions often were occupied by several distinct commercial, administrative, and institutional units, and the external facades became cluttered with business signs. Figure 2 illustrates four former residences that were adapted to meet the demands of a variety of nonresidential uses. Selective relocation and growth of upperscale businesses along the parallel and more scenic Avenida Amazonas left Avenida Diez de Agosto with relatively mundane commerce. A eld survey in the mid-1970s by Brugman (1976) showed that Avenida Amazonas offered afuent customers luxury goods and services (banks, travel agencies, cafes, restaurants, art galleries, and elegant stores supplying ne clothing, shoes, jewels, gifts, owers, and books), while establishments along Avenida Diez de Agosto provided middle- and upperclass customers with more fundamental needs and medical facilities (automobile-related businesses, groceries, clinics, and suppliers of construction materials, hardware, electrical equipment, furniture, and domestic appliances). In the late 1970s, municipal authorities widened and landscaped the sidewalks in Avenida Amazonas to promote leisurely and safe pedestrian shopping. In contrast, Avenida Diez de Agosto underwent a series of modications to accelerate intra-urban transit including central lanes free of trafc lights, overpasses, and a modern rapid trolley system. In the last two decades, developers still have preferred to build new ofces, banks, and shopping centers along the northern extension of Avenida Amazonas and around Parque La Carolina rather than along Avenida Diez de Agosto. In the 1980s, sustained diversication of land use along Avenida Amazonas and elsewhere in Mariscal Sucre stimulated another displacement of the elite. Some residents migrated

also brought an initial invasion of nonresidential activities, including some ne restaurants and hotels together with the small corner stores that are so characteristic of Latin American cities. In 1960, Quitos rst supermarket, La Favorita, opened on Avenida Amazonas and attracted afuent automobile owners. The Hotel Colon Internacional was inaugurated in 1967, bringing foreign tourists and businessmen to the neighborhood. Other nonresidential activities appeared along Avenida Amazonas, including restaurants, soda bars, banks, and boutiques. Nonetheless, in the 1960s, Mariscal Sucre was still a tranquil upper-class garden suburb with large residences, landscaped yards, low population density, and gentle trafc. In the 1970s, however, national economic prosperity arising from an oil boom, together with accelerated urban population growth led to an unprecedented expansion of business in Quito. Vertical construction was not feasible in the city center because its outstanding colonial architecture was protected by local authorities (Villasis 1988). In addition, the narrow and steep central streets were congested with vehicular trafc. As a result, many administrative, nancial, commercial, and recreational activities spread northward along Avenida Diez de Agosto, leapfrogged over Parque Alameda and Parque El Ejido, and invaded Mariscal Sucre. Many residences were adapted to serve as hotels, boutiques, jewelers, bookstores, travel agencies, cafes, restaurants, and bars. Other residences were replaced with high-rise multifunctional buildings. Cazamajor and Godard (1990) have documented the associated displacement of banks from the city core to the elite residential sector. Until 1965, the historic center was favored with a monopoly of the citys banks, but by 1984 there was not even one main ofce downtown. The historic center retained a great deal of formal and informal commerce serving low-and middle-income consumers. Petty production survived in inner-city workshops (Middleton 1989), and the unique colonial architecture continued to attract throngs of tourists. Nonetheless, from the 1970s onward, upper-scale business activities catering to afuent automobile owners in Quito were predominantly associated with elite neighborhoods adjacent to Avenida Diez de Agosto, including Mariscal Sucre.

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, Figure 2 Scenes of former residences converted to a variety of uses, including a bar, cafe and copy center (A), a hotel (B), a health food store, T-shirt factory, dental clinic, and ice cream shop (C), and a backpacker hostel, restaurant, bar, and Internet cafe (D).

eastward to attractive peripheral rural village settings in the comparatively warm Valle de los Chillos. Others extended the wedge of elite housing to the north of Mariscal Sucre in new suburban neighborhoods. Some of those who remained in Mariscal Sucre occupied apartments in the new high-rise multifunctional buildings. The next section of this article is a detailed analysis of land use change in Mariscal Sucre between 1975 and 1999. The discussion is focused on a time series of ve maps prepared in the eld at six-year intervals, together with transition matrices derived from these maps.

A Cartographic Analysis of Land Use Change in Mariscal Sucre (19751999)

Mariscal Sucre as a Fashionable Residential/ Business District (19751981) Structural transformation and land use intensication in Mariscal Sucre were rst studied at the peak of the 1970s oil boom by Mougeot and

Tonanez (1976) who compiled a land use map in 1975 at the scale of 1:5,000 and prepared a precise inventory of the number of lots allocated to each of nine broad categoriesvacant buildings and lots, recreation, institution, accommodation, commerce, administration, transportation, multifunctional buildings, and buildings in construction.3 Mougeot and Tonanez had no accurate information regarding land use in previous years, but, from visual evidence of houses being abandoned or adapted to new functions, they could identify the changing personality of the neighborhood with increasing conversion of residences into business facilities. They conned their study to the area enclosed by Ave nidas Colon, Patria, Doce de Octubre, and Diez de Agosto. This was the area considered to be most affected by changes in land use in 1975, and it continues to be so today. It includes 116 blocks with almost 1 million square meters of land, and it is the area studied in this article. In order to measure the rate of land use change, I compiled a second map of Mariscal Sucre in the eld in 1981 using the same scale

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50

and mapping categories dened in 1975 (Ryder 1984). A major obstacle to comparison of the two maps was the alteration of lot dimensions; some lots were subdivided by their owners while others were merged to allow the construction of large buildings. To overcome this problem, land use allocation was not quantied by the number of lots occupied, but by the area of land (in square meters) covered by each land use class. This was accomplished by planimeter and grid measurements of both maps.4 The area measurements conrmed visual observations of land use intensication and diversication. Between 1975 and 1981, there was an increasing scarcity of vacant lots, a marked reduction in the area of land allocated exclusively to housing, and vigorous expansion of commercial activities and multifunctional buildings (see Figure 3 and Table 1). Business was booming, and there was a surge in trafc. Nonetheless, the neighborhood retained its charm and possessed an air of prosperity. The 1975 and 1981 maps were processed further to compile the land use transition matrix shown in Table 2. High demand for land and intensication of land use in Mariscal Sucre during the oil boom is reected in the diagonal entries of the matrix. Only 15 percent of land vacant in 1975 remained unused in 1981, and only 5 percent of buildings under construction were not completed by the end of the six-year period.5 In terms of absolute land area, the conversion of residences to other functions was the most important single land use conversion in Mariscal Sucre. It is clear, however, from the transition matrix that the intensication process involved much more than the cumulative business capture of residential land. Considering the substantial cost of a new construction or structural modication of an existing building to satisfy the demands of a new function, most of the diagonal elements in a land use conversion matrix would be expected to have relatively high values, especially over a short time period of six years. Yet there was only an even chance of lots used for administration (51 percent), transportation (49 percent), or multifunctional buildings (55 percent) in 1975 having the same use in 1981. Commercial land use was even more volatile with a 32 percent chance of survival over six years. These four land-use states all had a lower survival rate than accommodation (67 percent). Institutional land uses (churches, schools, hos-

Share of Total Neighborhood Area (%)

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1975 Vacant Lots/Buildings Construction 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Accommodation Other Nonresidential Uses* Multiple Function

Commerce

Year
Figure 3 Changing allocation of land to accommodation, buildings under construction, vacant lots and buildings, multifunctional buildings, commerce, and other nonresidential uses (*recreation, institution, administration, transportation) in the period 1975 1999.

pitals) were relatively stable; the misleading low diagonal probability value of 59 percent was depressed by reconstruction of a large hospital in the northeastern sector of the neighborhood. Middleton (1989) has described the remarkable locational instability of petty production in the historic center of Quito. The 19751981 transition matrix indicates that location of enterprise also is unstable in the modern upperscale scenario of Mariscal Sucre. In the historic center, 85 percent of petty production establishments are located within rented housing. Landowners are permitted to evict renters and raise rents on the pretext of property renovation, and, as a result, many businesses are displaced from place to place, often over relatively short distances within the same neighborhood. The precarious nature of rental locations in a neighborhood with escalating property values also was undoubtedly an important cause of business location instability in Mariscal Sucre in 19751981. In addition, many businesses rented former single-family residences only until they were demolished and replaced with modern nonresidential or multifunctional high-rise

Land Use Diversication in the Elite Residential Sector of Quito, Ecuador

Table 1 Summary of Land Use Change in Barrio Mariscal Sucre (19201999)
Time Period and Status Elite residential sector (19201975) Processes Migration of elite from downtown to the suburban garden district. Initial penetration of upperscale business along Avenue Amazonas after 1960, including the Hotel Colon, ne restaurants, and Quitos rst supermarket. Major invasion of upper-scale business from downtown and the Diez de Agosto spine. Many homes rented to businesses. Significant business location instability. Impacts on Land Use

495

Predominance of exotic mansions. Charming quiet garden district with little trafc.

Fashionable residential/ business district (19751981)

Large increase in commercial and multifunctional land use. Escalating property values. Significant decline in area used for accommodation. Few vacant lots or buildings. Emergence of high-rise buildings along main streets. Increased trafc. Prosperous, bustling, still charming, metropolitan neighborhood. Additional large increase in area dedicated to business facilities but land released from accommodation exceeds the demands of businesses. Surge in vacant lots and buildings including (a) homes rejected by the elite together with (b) deteriorated former residences, adapted for business use, and later discarded in favor of space in new high-rise multifunctional buildings. More vacant lots and buildings (10% of the neighborhood). Accommodation (only 21%) relinquishes its position as the most extensive land use to multifunctional buildings (27%). Minor changes in land use allocation but several former mansions used for inexpensive hostels, ecotourism agencies, Spanish language schools. Mariscal Sucre is still a principal business sector but also a red light zone.

Residential/business district (19811987)

Sustained commercialization of the neighborhood but migration of upper-scale business farther north to more modern buildings and shopping centers with less trafc congestion (especially near Parque La Carolina). Growth of nocturnal entertainment and associated problems of noise and crime. Migration of elite to more modern housing in northern Quito and east of the city. Deceleration of the land use conversion process. Comparatively small increase in business but surge in recreational activities and additional exodus of residents. Invasion of low-budget international tourists, attracted to the remaining unique architecture of Mariscal Sucre and its vibrant entertainment facilities.

Business district (19871993)

Business district, backpacker tourist center, and red light zone (19931999)

buildings along main streets. Many parking facilities and automobile repair shops also had only temporary access to vacant lots that awaited construction. Mariscal Sucre as a Residential/Business District (19811987) The six-year period from 1981 to 1987 was characterized by devastating nancial crises and obligatory restructuring of the Ecuadorean economy caused by a world recession (1983),

falling oil prices, mounting foreign debt, a six-month earthquake-induced closure of the Trans-Ecuadorean oil pipeline, and damage caused by two El Nino events (19821983 and 19861987). In 1987, when the third land use map of Mariscal Sucre was compiled, the nations GDP fell by 6 percent (Banco Central del Ecuador 1992). Figure 3 shows that commercial and multifunctional land uses deed the downturn in the national economy and sustained the 19751981

Table 2 Transition Matrix for 19751981 Land Use Conversion in Mariscal Sucre
Use in 1975 (%) 1 1. Vacant 2. Recreation 3. Institution 4. Accommodation 5. Commerce 6. Administration 7. Transport 8. Multiple Function 9. Construction 15 00 00 01 01 00 11 02 02 2 04 70 02 01 01 00 01 01 01 3 03 00 59 03 01 05 00 02 02 4 27 15 06 67 13 27 11 15 13 Use in 1981 (%) 5 12 03 01 06 32 03 06 13 09 6 03 01 00 02 16 51 04 04 14 7 12 01 01 02 03 05 49 06 04 8 13 09 09 15 14 07 11 55 50 9 11 02 21 03 17 01 08 02 05

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percent, and 1 percent, respectively. Furthermore, a visual comparison of the rst column in the transition matrices shows that, together with accommodation, the rates of conversion of recreational, commercial, and administrative facilities to vacant buildings and lots increased significantly between 1981 and 1987. It is clear, therefore, that much land converted temporarily from housing to competing land uses did not return to its original residential function but became vacant. Vacant lots and buildings were rarely observed during the 1981 eld mapping exercise. In marked contrast, six years later, eldwork immediately revealed the large number of empty residences and abandoned restaurants, businesses, and ofces that clearly were not in a process of conversion but in a state of rejection and decay. Indeed, vacant lots and buildings surged to an 8 percent share of the neighborhood by 1987. The significant measured decline in area under accommodation is veried by National Population Census data. The neighborhood became increasingly congested with business activities, people, and trafc in the 1970s and 1980s, but its resident population fell by 17.2 percent between 1982 and 1990 (INEC 1982, 1991), a rate of decline that parallels the 17.4 percent loss reported by Bromley and Jones (1996) for the historic center of Quito. Informal interviews with neighborhood residents in 1987 indicated factors that discouraged residency in Mariscal Sucre and contributed to the reduction of land dedicated to accommodation. Older problems of noise, congestion, lack of privacy, higher rents, and property taxes were considered to be worse than before, but a major new source of anxiety for remaining residents was the escalating crime and prostitution associated with growing numbers of bars and

trend of rapid expansion in Mariscal Sucre between 1981 and 1987. On the other hand, there was a marked decrease in the area under construction. In addition, expansion of other nonresidential uses (recreation, transport, institutions, and administration) was relatively sluggish. Many developers chose to locate new banks, hotels, and businesses in less-congested sites to the north, particularly along the extension of Avenida Amazonas at Parque La Carolina where there was more parking space and greater proximity to new elite residential neighborhoods. Thus, upper-scale businesses, which had invaded Mariscal Sucre in the 1970s, began to move northward once again to more modern ofce facilities and shopping centers. The area allocated to housing in Mariscal Sucre decreased even more than in 19751981, dropping from 39 percent to only 26 percent of the neighborhood. The transition matrices reveal an important aspect of this dramatic demise. Between 1975 and 1981, a notable proportion of land was being rechanneled into accommodation from other land uses, compensating somewhat for residential land lost elsewhere. During the subsequent time period, this trend was severely weakened. Table 2 demonstrates that 15 percent of the land occupied by multifunctional buildings in 1975 was converted to accommodation by 1981; accommodation also captured 11 percent of the land used for transportation, 27 percent of the area used for administration, 13 percent of the area under commerce, and 15 percent of the land used for recreation. Table 3 shows that, between 1981 and 1987, the corresponding proportional transfers of land from multifunctional buildings, transport, administration, commerce, and recreation to accommodation were substantially reduced to 8 percent, 4 percent, 6 percent, 8

Table 3 Transition Matrix for 19811987 Land Use Conversion in Mariscal Sucre
Use in 1981 (%) 1 1. Vacant 2. Recreation 3. Institution 4. Accommodation 5. Commerce 6. Administration 7. Transport 8. Multiple Function 9. Construction 45 16 01 10 07 06 09 04 02 2 01 65 02 03 03 00 01 01 01 3 02 00 82 02 02 00 00 00 02 4 04 01 03 57 08 06 04 08 02 Use in 1987 (%) 5 04 03 03 06 55 09 06 15 16 6 12 02 04 04 01 63 02 05 13 7 19 00 00 00 00 03 67 03 03 8 11 13 04 16 24 14 06 63 25 9 03 01 00 01 01 00 05 01 37

Land Use Diversication in the Elite Residential Sector of Quito, Ecuador

nightclubs. The area of land dedicated exclusively to recreation expanded by only 9,450 square meters between 1975 and 1987, but many additional recreational establishments functioned within multifunctional buildings dispersed throughout the neighborhood. Mariscal Sucre as a Business District (19871993) In general, between 1987 and 1993, the Ecuadorean economy displayed a certain degree of recovery from the severe instability of the early and mid-1980s. Average annual change in GDP for the six-year period of 19871993 was 3.9 percent, boosted by more favorable oil prices and strong agricultural export earnings (Banco Central del Ecuador 1992; LatinFocus 2003). Alleviation of the nancial crunch of the 1980s did not, however, stimulate significant further expansion of business functions in Mariscal Sucre. The area under multifunctional land use experienced only a minor increase from 25 percent of the neighborhood in 1987 to 27 percent in 1993 (Figure 3). There was even a small decrease of 2,500 square meters in the area allocated to commerce, although proliferation of bars and restaurants led to an increment of 15 percent in the area controlled by recreation. More buildings were abandoned between 1987 and 1993, with the result that 10 percent of Mariscal Sucre was composed of vacant lots and buildings in 1993. Indeed, vacant property became the fourth most extensive land use category in the neighborhood, surpassed only by multifunctional buildings, accommodations, and commerce. With slower expansion of business, the rate of decrease in accommodation also declined (see Figure 3). Nonetheless, between 1987 and 1993, 9 percent of the land dedicated exclusively to accommodation was converted to a multifunctional use while 7 percent became vacant. As a result, for the rst time, accommodation ceded its position as the most extensive land use in Mariscal Sucre to multifunctional buildings, which occupied 27 percent of the neighborhood. Mariscal Sucre as a Business District, Backpacker Tourist Center, and Red Light Zone (19931999) Economic uncertainty prevailed once more in Ecuador between 1993 and 1999. Average annual change in GDP for that period was only 1.1

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percent and, in 1999, when the fth land use map of Mariscal Sucre was compiled, the nations GDP had fallen by 7.3 percent (Latin Focus 2003). Figure 3 shows, however, that there were only minor shifts in land use allocation. Multifunctional buildings claimed only an additional 2 percent of the neighborhood, while commerce was virtually stagnant. Accommodation experienced its smallest decline since 1975. On the other hand, there was a significant change in the personality of Mariscal Sucre. Many rejected former mansions were converted into inexpensive hostels, ecotourism agencies, restaurants, and bars to cater to the growing presence of low-budget, international, backpacker tourists who took advantage of the relatively inexpensive and peaceful environment of Ecuador. Other vacant mansions were converted into schools offering lessons in Spanish for foreigners. Tourists also were attracted to the booming nocturnal entertainment in the neighborhood, which had become the predominant red light district of Quito. In 1998, municipal authorities estimated that the neighborhood had over 100 businesses offering adult entertainment, including brothels, massage parlors, nightclubs, and bars (El Comercio 1998). Spatial Patterns of Land Use Change (19751999) The maps in Figure 4 provide a visual summary of the diffusion of multifunctional and commercial establishments between 1975 and 1999. The 1975 land use map shows that Avenida Amazonas was the focus of early nonresidential land use. By 1981, business activities had invaded the blocks between Avenida Amazonas and the spine of Avenida Diez de Agosto. The 1981 map also reveals the developing concentration of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs in the north-central sector of the neighborhood between Avenidas Amazonas, Colon, and Seis de Diciembre. Subsequent maps for 1987, 1993, and 1999 document the gradual spread of business toward the east. The 1999 map shows that business activities are still not quite dominant in the easternmost part of Mariscal Sucre, which is more distant from Avenida Diez de Agosto and is characterized by sloping terrain. Nonetheless, Avenidas Seis de Diciembre and Doce de Octubre have become commercial strips and have made a significant contribution to diversication of land use in Mariscal Sucre.

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(B)

Figure 4 Proportion of block area allocated to multifunctional buildings and commerce in Mariscal Sucre, 19751999.

More business will be attracted to Avenida Seis de Diciembre by its new Ecova, a 5-mile, modern diesel bus service designed to assist Avenida Diez de Agosto with north-south intraurban mass transit. Concern for the Future of Mariscal Sucre It has become difcult to imagine that Mariscal Sucre was once a peaceful elite residential district. The neighborhood still is ofcially zoned as residential, but it has almost 3,000 business establishments (El Comercio 1999). Indeed, Gomez (1997) considers Mariscal Sucre, together with the historical center and the area surrounding Parque La Carolina, to be one of the three principal commercial districts of Quito. Mariscal Sucre may have lost many sophisticated enterprises, but it is still a commercial powerhouse. On the other hand, intensive

land use has had a profound impact on the neighborhoods landscape. Trafc is very heavy, the air is polluted, buildings are deteriorating, and there are several unattractive construction sites that are paralyzed because of insufcient funds. Land values have plummeted, and many buildings are listed for sale or rent. Jaramillo and Rosero (1996) point out that, in 19621975, Mariscal Sucre had the most expensive real estate in Quito, and the average value of land was $360/square meter; by 1995, this value had fallen to $200/square meter, well below that of newer residential neighborhoods located farther north in the city including La Carolina ($640/square meter), Quito Tennis Club ($500/square meter), and El Batan ($395/square meter). The exotic heterogeneous architecture of Mariscal Sucre is unrelated to Ecuadorean culture, but it symbolizes the beginning of the

Land Use Diversication in the Elite Residential Sector of Quito, Ecuador

twentieth century transition from traditional Hispanic constructions to the modern designs that predominate in the contemporary landscape of Quito (Checa 1991). In 1990, municipal authorities declared Mariscal Sucre to be a historic district and compiled an inventory of distinctive buildings (IMQ 1990). At that time, it was estimated that 28 percent of the architecturally significant constructions were destroyed in the 1980s, while numerous others had been altered to accommodate nonresidential land uses. In 1997, the municipal government created a project to rehabilitate the neighborhood, but progress has been severely limited by inadequate funding. The mayor of Quito passed a related resolution in 2000 to control and regulate proliferation of entertainment facilities, and 50 of the residual 7,200 residents serve as voluntary monitors responsible for reporting illegal nocturnal activities (El Comercio 2000). Efforts are being made to obtain support from private enterprise to rescue some of the outstanding former residences.

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Discussion and Conclusions

Development of a Composite Spine As observed in other Latin American cities, upper-income groups left the inner city of Quito in the early twentieth century and built exotic mansions in the elite suburban residential sector of Mariscal Sucre. From the 1970s onward, many businesses also ed the congested city core. In accordance with the Grifn-Ford model, they spread outward along Avenida Diez de Agosto, which became a spine linking the elite sector to downtown. Careful examination reveals that Avenida Diez de Agosto does not possess all of the characteristic properties of a spine. It is the principal axis of transportation between the city center and the elite residential sector, and it is lined with diverse commercial, institutional, and administrative establishments catering to people with access to automobile transportation. On the other hand, its architecture is not particularly attractive, and its businesses are rather mundane. Any upscale activities that it may have had in the past have been displaced to Avenida Amazonas and the adjacent elite residential sector. Avenida Amazonas also has some characteristics of a Latin American urban spine, including its association

with the elite residential sector, its attractive architecture, and its sophisticated business activities. Unlike a classic spine, however, it does not originate in the city center and has never been as important as Avenida Diez de Agosto for northsouth, intra-urban transit. Indeed, the section of Avenida Amazonas located within Mariscal Sucre was not even connected to the section adjacent to Parque La Carolina until the mid1970s. Avenidas Diez de Agosto and Amazonas, therefore, do not individually comply with the conventional concept of the spine as dened in the theoretical framework of this article. It might be appropriate, however, to consider both avenues acting as a composite spine. Avenida Diez de Agosto provides rapid transit to downtown and basic commercial and administrative facilities that are complemented with the upper-scale businesses of the more attractive Avenida Amazonas. Further research is needed to determine if a similar composite spine exists elsewhere in Latin America. Conned by steep slopes to east and west, Quito has a pronounced elongated shape. As a result, other north-south avenues including Avenida Seis de Diciembre and Avenida de los Shyris have become characterized by heavy trafc and the development of businesses. They may be considered major commercial strips, but they do not possess the charisma of Avenida Amazonas or the accessibility of Avenida Diez de Agosto and cannot be classied as spines. Diversication of Land Use in the Elite Residential Sector Grifn and Ford (1980), Bahr and Mertins (1992, 1993), and Ward (1998) believe that homes in the elite residential sector of Latin American cities lter down to groups of more modest income. Bahr and Mertins (1992, 1993) also observe some penetration of businesses on the ground oors of apartment buildings located on main streets. In contrast, this study of Mariscal Sucre shows that the elite residential sector may undergo a large-scale invasion of nonresidential activities from the spine. The initial development of businesses along Avenida Amazonas was followed by a profound transformation of the surrounding neighborhood from a tranquil elite residential district to a zone of extremely diverse land uses. Many mansions were adapted to serve new nonresidential

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modern housing in northern Quito and to the east of the city. As a result, banks and upperscale businesses also moved northward once again to more accessible new shopping centers and ofce buildings in the vicinity of Parque La Carolina. Mariscal Sucre survived the exodus of wealthy residents and sophisticated enterprises, and, in the 1990s, continued to be overwhelmed with conventional business activities during daylight hours. On the other hand, the neighborhood also became associated with nocturnal entertainment including bars, strip clubs, discos, and brothels. In addition, large numbers of lowbudget tourists were drawn to the original elite residential sector, and many former mansions were adapted to serve as inexpensive hostels, restaurants, travel agencies, and Internet cafes. Locational Instability of Business in the Elite Residential Sector Transition matrices developed in this study also show that intensication of land use in the elite residential sector involves much more than the cumulative business capture of residential land. In particular, in the 19751981 period of transition of Mariscal Sucre from elite residential sector to fashionable residential/business district, more than 45 percent of buildings used for administration, transportation, commerce, or multiple uses changed function. Indeed, the locational instability of businesses in the elite residential sector rivaled that observed by Middleton (1989) among small businesses in the historic center of Quito. The diversication of land use, the remarkable volatility of business location, and the changing personality of Mariscal Sucre all support the Crowley hypothesis of complexity in Latin American urban land use patterns.

functions, while others were demolished and replaced with multifunctional high-rise buildings. Thus, contrary to conventional wisdom, the original elite sector of Quito did not become a less prestigious residential district but was converted into one of the citys most important business districts. Research on other Latin American cities shows that business activities spreading outward from the city core displaced upper-class residents from the spine and subsequently occupied modern shopping centers in the suburbs. This study of Quito demonstrates a significant variation in this trend with upper-scale businesses invading the elite residential sector before being relocated in more distant shopping centers. This deviation is partly explained by the impact of legislation designed to preserve the unique historic colonial architecture of the city center. Prohibition of high-rise buildings and large parking lots accentuated the exodus of business from the city core. Undoubtedly, the accessibility and extraordinary beauty of Mariscal Sucre also played a fundamental role in diversication of the neighborhoods land use. Built in 1960 to take advantage of the neighborhoods proximity to Avenida Diez de Agosto and its scenic setting by Parque El Ejido, the Hotel Colon became a major destination for international businessmen and tourists. Foreign visitors subsequently created the initial demand in Mariscal Sucre for banking and money ex change services, sophisticated cafes and restaurants, jewelry stores, gift shops, and art galleries. Even today, despite decades of intensive nonresidential use, Mariscal Sucre retains enough unique architecture and charm to attract throngs of international tourists. Changing Business Personality of the Converted Elite Residential Sector As summarized in Table 1, this study of Quito also demonstrates that the appearance and personality of a converted elite residential sector can change dramatically with time. In the 1970s, Mariscal Sucre was characterized by a fashionable mixture of attractive residences and sophisticated businesses. In the 1980s, sustained commercial growth led to the construction of several high-rise multifunctional buildings, severe trafc congestion, and gradual deterioration of the original exotic residential architecture. Many of the elite migrated to more

Notes
1

Diagrams of the Grifn-Ford (original and revised), Arreola-Curtis, and Crowley models of city structure can be observed in Sargent (2002). The Bahr-Mertins model is included in Crowley (1995). 2 The symbiotic combination of spine and elite sector is typical only of large Latin American cities. Elbow (1983) examined secondary urban centers in Guatemala and discovered that they do not have an elite residential sector because the upper classes mostly live in the capital city. Commercial activities extend outward from the core of secondary towns along a major road, but they do not resemble the upper-scale

Land Use Diversication in the Elite Residential Sector of Quito, Ecuador

facilities of a spine. Elite residential sectors are observed in the secondary cities of Argentina but they are located in picturesque peripheral locations and are not linked to the city core by a commercial spine (Howell 1989). 3 Both public ( parks) and private facilities (discos, res taurants, bars, and cafes) were included in the recreation mapping class. Buildings used for religious, educational, and health services were grouped as institutions. The accommodation category was composed mostly of residential constructions but also involved hotels and boarding houses. Commerce encompassed shoemakers, tailors, jewelers, retail outlets, and travel agencies, together with professional and technical services. The administration category took into account public administration, banks, insurance companies, and embassies, while parking lots, gas stations, and automobile repair shops were grouped in the transport mapping class. Multifunctional buildings were used for two or more of the other functions. 4 In the case of buildings with more than one oor, land uses in all oors were considered when assigning an appropriate land use category to the lot, but no attempt was made to measure areas of land use in upper oors. Almost all multistory buildings in Mariscal Sucre are multifunctional. Some have a simple combination of commercial activities on the ground oor with apartment accommodation on other oors, as described by Bahr and Mertins in Copacabana (Bahr and Mertins 1993). Nonetheless, the vast majority of multistory buildings in Mariscal Sucre exhibit a bewildering diversity of land use under one roof, including accommodation, commerce, institutions, administration, recreation, and transportation. Indeed, these multifunctional buildings are icons of the dramatic process of land use diversication in the neighborhood. It is very difcult to measure areas allocated to individual land uses on every oor of these buildings; as a result, each building, as a whole, was identied as multifunctional on the land use map, and the measured area of the lot was assigned to that category. 5 Transition matrices reveal changes in land use allocation. For example, in Table 2, the fourth row indicates that 67 percent of land used for accommodation on 1975 retained that function in 1981. The remaining 33 percent was converted to multifunctional use (15 percent), commerce (6 percent), construction sites (3 percent), institutional use (3 percent), administration (2 percent), transportation facilities (2 percent), recreational use (1 percent), and vacant buildings or lots (1 percent).

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ROY RYDER is an associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL 36688. E-mail: rryder@usouthal.edu. His research interests include soils, land evaluation, and urban and rural land use patterns in Latin America.