The Future of Two Markets
Daily life of Markets & the contested struggle of a world-class tourist destination This is a visual tool to bring awareness and to prompt discussion about the exclusionary impacts of the making of Quito and Ecuador as a world-class tourist destination. Urban development plans, strategies and visions for the present and futuremaking of Quito is one where working-class populations and marginalized city districts are most impacted as municipal and national government authorities work with international actors to “boost� the economy. This is a process where local, national and international governments and private actors coordinate strategies towards selective ways of investing in existing built forms that are considered profitable, such as the Historic Center District, and new built forms, such as luxury hotels, in order to (re)develop urban amenities to attract international visitors (tourists and foreign developers). These developments have extraordinary impacts on the future landscape of the city, and it is necessary for vulnerable and everyday sites, such as the traditional food markets of Quito, to understand the macro, world-class tourist destination forces that shape their everyday struggles.
by Zanny Venner, with the dedicated and ongoing support of the team in NYC & partners in Quito
International
Tourist
National Government
Growing Economy
Municipal Government
Politican
Other
Neighborhood
City
Capitalist
National
Legend: Characters, Symbols, & Conditions
International Institutions
Branding
Traditional Food Markets
Heritage
‘Informal’ Workers
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Grassroot Organizations
Future
City activists
Market Workers
Investment
Sanitize
Garcia Moreno Prison
New Development
Pictograms and symbol contributions by Iconoclasistas and NYC project team
Luxury Development
#1: A Competitive & Crowded Global Tourist Market
What a homogenous tourist market the world has become! I have an urging need and desire to find the next best place with unique attractions!
Where else can I find such new spaces to invest and accumulate wealth to feed a global, competitve, and expanding tourist economy?
Everyday life is a struggle
The desire for cities to become world-class tourist destinations is part of a global strategy to attract a foreign audience, including tourists and investors, but this excludes working-class populations and marginalized city districts.
#2. Contesting Dominant Models of Development
ak Sum say Kaw
Calling for a new National project in Ecuador! Implement alternative forms of development!
E FO cu R ad SA or LE
S
S LA -C LD ISM OR UR W TO
But this continent is already too crowded with tourist sites! I need a DESTINATION site that is EVEN MORE ATTRACTIVE than the rest!
Under global pressure to become sites of world-class tourism, cities and nations in Latin America project themselves utilizing their unique culture and natural resources for economic growth. In 2008, the Latin American nation of Ecuador rejects this form of dominant development and demands an alternative model.
Calling for a NEW National Economy without contesting the international markets in order to generate more wealth for Ecuador!
20
0 Pl 8 N Bu an at en fo ion Vi r el al vi r!
#3. Reclaiming Economic Wealth for Ecuador
CHANGE OF THE PRODUCTION MATRIX Strengthening Local Production Reducing Imports Increasing Sustainable Tourism
Sounds like the time for foreign investment
Under citizen pressure, the push for a new national project was brought forth by the government under the 2008 National Plan for Buen Vivir. In hopes of shifting to new social and sustainable forms of development beyond the extraction of oil and outside international market pressures, the Ecuadorian government proposed a change in the production matrix. The key industries that change was invested for were reďŹ neries, petrochemicals, assembly of cars, bio-knowledge, hydroelectric dams, and tourism.
#4: A ‘Brand’ New Political Economy A NEW stable, inclusive & progressive State
Buen
Build luxury hotels & luxury (re) Developments! The tourists will come & your economy will grow!
Vivir!
Pl Co urin ns at tit io ut na io l n Ri th ght e Ci to ty
y
nt
ig od re Fo ove S
El Buen Vivir? Everyday we struggle to get on the political agenda
UNESCO and Inter-American Development Bank, helps us develop new international imaginings of Ecuador in our capital city of Quito!
Ecuador’s new plan for ‘Good Living’ was intended to serve as an alternative to the status-quo global modern economy. It incorporated platforms of the indigenous movement including rights for the protection of Pachamama (Kichwa for Mother Earth) and the right to the city. However, the possibilities to enact a Buen Vivir development model shifted towards a profit-driven economy, affected by international economic conditions.
#5: Building & Sustaining a WorldClass Tourist Destination Quito’s 2015-2025 Development & Land Management Plan: S Attraction Zones for O Tourism, NE Z ON Business & Commerical Sectors CTI A
R ATT
But to compete with the global tourist agenda, you must REGENERATE your built assets in your Downtown core. The World Bank calls this “The Econonmics of Uniqueness” “A
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Downtown Core
Co m Ci peti ty ris ” tive m Ci Or ty ” ient ed “A Inv City est f me or nt”
“A
When does our new future begin?
To u
QUITO, ECUADOR #1 Tourist Destination in South America!
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An extensive revitalization of Quito for the achievement of a new local, national and global appearance is influenced by global trends to spur growth in the sectors of tourism, commerce and business. Quito’s new future urban development plans of “attraction zones” is a telling sign about the city’s economic plan of increasing income from tourism, which involves cleaning up “informal” sectors of the city.
#6: Tourist Attractions as a Strategy for Exclusionary Urban Development
This is the VALUE of the underutilized land in your
Heritage district. By regenerating the wealth of your Historical Centre we can help the city ATTRACT tourists and grow the city’s expanding economy!
$675M REBIRTH Plan for the Historical Center: Commercial & Residential Development on the way!
#1 Heritage District for Sale Who said our land was UNDERUTILIZED?
6000 Street Vendors Relocated!
The Historic Center of Quito is internationally known for being the best preserved Spanish colonial city center in Latin America. However, communities in and around the historic city center face pressures from government authorities, international institutions and real estate developers. Maintaining churches, plazas and cathedrals becomes a priority over community-controlled change, in order to strengthen profit capacity from a tourist-oriented landscape.
#7: Our Market(s), a Socially Sanitized Future?
Mercado San Francisco, a market within the Historic Center district, encountered a dramatic transformation of its traditional market qualities. Now a totally sanitized market performed by locals for the benefit of tourists, it has lost its traditional dignity and market qualities. Yet the municipal government authorities see this as Quito’s future market model.
#8: Tourism’s Expanding Pressures: Neighborhood Economic Makeovers
The future plan envisioned for the redevelopment of Mercado San Roque is a telling sign about a combination of forces, including real estate pressures, when cities allow prime sites to be redeveloped by the highest bidder. This process can devastate market sites as they lose their local authenticity when forces like tourism and modern developments work to undermine or displace the existing site.
#9: Strengthening Social Networks Towards a Collective Future
Cleanse Sanitize Displace
Mercados
Joint Struggles! Public Issues! Our markets, Our city! Towards a dignified future!
In the end, we have a choice between the conditions that affect two different market spaces: one market that sanitizes and displaces everyday social life, and another market alive with the local community. Here lies the possibility to imagine a future for the latter and to become active in the making of vibrant market spaces.