Informal Traders and Planners in the Regeneration of Historic City Centres: The Case of Quito, Ecuador

A major reason for the regeneration of historic city centres in developing countries is the possibility of benefiting from the growing mobility of international tourists. In this competitive global market place, a particular perspective on history and culture is being sold. It is a perspective that celebrates buildings and ignores a history of conflictive social relations. A modern expression of these social relations is the conflict which exists between planners and street traders, whose presence is seen to be inimical to tourism development. This paper investigates the relations between planners and street traders in Quito, in the context of the history of the city as a contested space and where the physical and socio-economic structures are related to cultural conflicts which are deeply embedded.