| Assessing Urban Environments
| Identifying urban problems
and proposing sustainable solutions |
Rapid population growth in a number of Ecuadorian
cities, caused mainly by migration from the countryside and demographic
expansion, has led to increasing amounts of unplanned urban sprawl
with often detrimental impacts on surrounding ecosystems. Potable
water systems are stressed from an overabundance of users, the number
of motor vehicles has increased more rapidly than urban planners
had expected decades ago, sanitary infrastructure is outdated, and
city governments often have insufficient capital to invest in major
construction work.
 Particularly
in the City of Loja, information regarding the urban environment
was scarcely available and widely dispersed amongst many agencies.
For this reason, NCI implemented the GeoCiudades methodology from
the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to create GeoLoja,
a document that reviews the current state of the urban environment
and proposes a number of future scenarios for more sustainable development.
Loja is currently the only city in Ecuador to have completed this
comprehensive analysis.
Download GeoLoja here (Spanish only): Perspectivas
del Medio Ambiente Urbano: GeoLoja (pdf - 8 MB)
In addition, NCI and other key environmental players
in southern Ecuador have formed a Regional Environmental Council
to efficiently coordinate, plan, and evaluate environmental actions
and development. This working group is responsible for the creation
of local proposals and establishes action plans to be carried out
by conservation institutions, international organizations, development
organizations and local governments.
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