Preparing for Urban Expansion: A Proposed Strategy for Intermediate Cities in Ecuador

Resumen

A recent World Bank study (Angel et al, 2005) focused on the declining density of the built-up area in cities and the far-reaching implications of this in the face of continued urban growth. It provided, for the fi rst time, tables and global estimates on the key parameters of urban expansion in developing countries. Preliminary estimates indicate that, if average densities continue to decline as they did during the 1990s, the built-up areas of cities of more than 100,000 people will increase from 200,000km2 in 2000 to more than 600,000km2 in 2030:In other words, by 2030 these cities can be expected to triple their land area, with every new resident converting, on average, some 160 square metres of non-urban to urban land during the coming years. (Angel et al, 2005, p1)Table 6.1 provides preliminary estimates of population and built-up area totals for regions and city size groups for two time periods, 1990 and 2000. The annualTa ble 6.