Conceptual metaphor for the diagnosis of a peripheral neighborhood in Loja, Ecuador

Abstract

In urban diagnostics, technological tools have been implemented that have allowed for more precise data collection, but the interpretation techniques are almost always the same, and a systematic and complex understanding of the neighborhood is sometimes lacking. This study was conducted in the Víctor Emilio Valdivieso neighborhood of Loja, Ecuador, located in a peripheral area, in a natural ecological protection context with physical-spatial and social challenges. The objective was to use the human body as a metaphor and relate it to urban systems and the concepts of apoptosis and necrosis developed in medicine. Qualitative techniques such as participatory workshops and others that allowed for creative interpretations to be explored through metaphor were added to the results. The social system was conceived as the nervous system; the urban fabric and block structure as the muscular system; the circulatory and respiratory systems as public and green spaces; and the road network and geomorphology were conceived as the skeletal system. Three temporal milestones were considered: 2014, 2020, 2023. The conceptual analogy allowed us to identify that the nervous and muscular systems began a necrotic process that must be treated, given the existence of unsafe spaces, as well as the loss of green areas in public spaces. It was also determined that a large part of the land should not have been urbanized. The respiratory and circulatory systems function healthily in an apoptotic process due to social organization and the presence of a still-functioning natural context. The skeletal system is considered to be in remission. In short, the resource used sparks creativity for urban analyses, as well as an understanding of their "state of health or disease" from a physical and socio-spatial perspective.