Efecto de la estructura de usos de suelo sobre el precio del suelo en la zona periurbana de Cuenca, Ecuador

This study addresses the knowledge gap regarding specific land price formation dynamics in peri-urban contexts of Latin American intermediate cities, analyzing the relationship between spatial structure of land uses and land prices in Ricaurte (Cuenca, Ecuador), an area undergoing rural-urban transition. The methodology employs a quantitative spatial analysis approach comprising: identification of centralities based on land use intensity and diversity, spatial interpolation through inverse distance weighting, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and geographically weighted regression. Methodologically, land value is separated from total property price through residual methods, contributing to analytical precision in land market studies. Results reveal evolution from a monocentric pattern toward complex urban morphology, with higher density and diversity of uses in the parish center. Prices show strong positive spatial autocorrelation and higher values in the central zone. Residual clusters evidence spatial heterogeneity in the land use-price relationship, with positive residuals where prices exceed estimates and negative ones where overestimation occurs. Findings confirm significant correlation between land use structure and prices, demonstrating how urban dynamics reconfigure these patterns, with crucial implications for urban rent theory and peri-urban expansion planning.