Beyond oil: a study of the relationship between urban form and transport in two cities in Ecuador

The project beyond oil: a study of the relationship between urban form and transport in two cities in Ecuador, aims to diagnose the relationship between urban form and transport in Quito and Cuenca to propose sustainable urban planning criteria in order to reduce the demand for travel, increase the efficiency of current transport modes and guide public policy aimed at promoting the implementation of more efficient transport systems. In recent years, attention has been given to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, causing climate change, without recognizing the importance of urban form and the means of transport used. The concept of compact city, which increases population density in the area of influence of mass transport systems, is directly related to the reduction, both of the use of the private vehicle and means of transport, and of energy consumption due to the use of fossil fuels, which generates social, environmental and economic benefits in cities. For their part, the cities of Ecuador, particularly Quito and Cuenca, have dispersion processes resulting from their own disconnected growth of urban centers, which is evidenced in the high index of use of the private vehicle per capita and implies a high consumption of fossil energy and environmental pollution. It is essential to begin to reflect, from the local, the systemic relationship between urban form, means of transport, technological innovation, alternative energies and socio-economic development in the cities of Ecuador and thus contribute to the generation of public policies that promote the construction of more sustainable cities. From this point of view, the project proposes to explore the possibility of satisfying the demand for transport in the two cities through electric vehicles fed by renewable energy sources located within urban limits. This objective is inserted within the proposal to build resilient cities, where through their own planning they can achieve a certain degree of self -sufficiency. One of the proposed strategies is aimed at studying the way in which renewable energy projects could be located to promote the socio-economic development of depressed urban areas. For this, the project proposes to work with methodologies where the urban form and its relationship with sustainable mobility are explored, as well as the possibility of implementing mobility technologies based on renewable energies to promote urban energy efficiency. The results will serve as the basis for the definition of public policies and decision making, both in the planning of the city and of transport networks in Quito and Cuenca. Theoretical approaches such as "circular urban metabolism" and "Community-Based Energy" will also be explored, which, from an integral perspective, propose that economically depressed zones can take advantage of the provision of energy generation services and configure a mechanism that fosters the social and economic development of these communities. As relevant results of this investigation, they are expected to obtain: a geodatabase with the evaluation of the urban form of the two cities and their relationship with the demand for travel and modes of transport; Sustainable urban planning criteria in order to reduce the demand for travel and promote the use of more efficient transport modes; The estimate of energy consumption generated by the use of fossil fuels in the transport sector in Quito and Cuenca and the potential substitution by electricity generated with renewable sources; Analysis of electric mobility technologies to be applied in the two cities.

REDU