La frustrada construcción de la “región” en el Ecuador (2007-2017): Lecciones y perspectivas

This paper makes an analytical review of the frustrated process of shaping the region, known as the intermediate level of government, established in the Political Constitution of Ecuador of 2008. After a decade of the constitutional provision, it remained a dead letter, and on the contrary, it could be argued that there are setbacks in the quality of territorial democracy. After specifying some concepts and contextualizing the case, the analysis focuses on two areas: on the one hand, the limitations of the criteria on which the notion of region was built; and on the other, the changes in the strategy of the national government that were dissolving this constitutional mandate. Finally, some conse-quences, conclusions and perspectives on land use planning policies in the country are tested. The text contributes to the unresolved problem of socio-spatial disparities, the potentialities and limits of the action of national governments on the territory.