Dr. Víctor Cano Ciborro

Publicaciones

• “Invisible networks: Counter-cartographies of dissident spatial practices in La Jota Street, Quito”. CITIES 140

  Cities are defined by more than just their buildings and streets; it is the spontaneous situations that occur in quotidian places that give them a sense of urban life. When inhabitants provoke relations built on dissidence and resistance, they are constructing strategies that defy the official establishment, resulting in a new type of city. This article examines the invisible networks of La Jota Street, located in the south of Quito, Ecuador, as a paradigm of what is a Latin-American counter-city. We analyze the hidden and often disregarded urban parameters that shape this kind of territory by using counter-cartographies, a novel graphic methodology based on research-by-making. In La Jota, this method consists of tracing the everyday spatial practices of inhabitants in the corridor's urban form of narrow streets and passages. Key findings of this study include: an urban theoretical framework that goes beyond the examination of morphology to incorporate active, conflicting, and sensitive notions such as resistance and dissidence mainly in Global South cities; the production of counter-cartographies based on bodies, occupations, and affects as evidence of spatial constructions against the state apparatus designs; and potential implications to design strategies that include and respond to the actual lived experiences of inhabitants.

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• Cartografía del estallido social en la banlieue parisina. Del primer rascacielos de hormigón a los cuerpos subalternos en la revuelta de 2005”. Revista 180, 54.

  Este artículo se focaliza en la periferia parisina como caso de estudio para analizar y visibilizar los orígenes, formas y consecuencias del estallido social de 2005, originado en el barrio de Clichy-sous-Bois. Se inicia con un recorrido histórico sobre la noción de periferia —banlieue—, explorando La Cité de la Muette, un conjunto residencial que terminó siendo un campo de concentración, para luego abordar la degradación de los barrios populares alrededor de París. Con la periferia contextualizada, se desarrolla la metodología de la narración cartográfica para visibilizar los cuerpos y fuerzas, yendo más allá de los manidos análisis de objetos y formas, con el fin de explicar desde un punto de vista espacial, corpóreo y afectivo las acciones, factores y actores que desencadenaron la revuelta de Clichy-sous-Bois. Esta comenzó a gestarse cuando Nicolás Sarkozy —entonces Ministro del Interior y futuro Presidente de Francia— llamó ‘escoria’ a las pandillas de jóvenes inmigrantes de segunda y tercera generación que habitaban estos guetos. El artículo destaca la narración cartográfica como una herramienta operativa que trasciende el análisis espacial puramente morfológico y cuantitativo. Al enfocarse en los cuerpos, comportamientos, deseos, necesidades y problemas específicos del lugar, permite obtener un entendimiento más cercano a la realidad vivida y actuar de manera más adecuada al contexto.

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• Mapping Public Space Micro-Occupations: Drone-Driven Predictions of Spatial Behaviors in Carapungo, Quito

  This study evaluates the spatial behavior of an intermodal transportation hub in Carapungo, one of the densest neighborhoods in Quito, Ecuador. This public infrastructure is deficient and lacks adequate equipment for the people who use, occupy, and transit within and around it, as well as for the numerous activities that occur, particularly at Carapungo’s Entry Park. Traditional methods for analyzing urban dynamics and land use are typically rigid and fail to grasp the complex and nonlinear nature of public spaces, especially in informal Global South cities. However, recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, combined with aerial drone videos, have enabled the modeling and prediction of urban dynamics beyond state regulations and formal planning. In this context, we developed a model using Computer Vision Technology and the YOLOv5 algorithm, incorporating Deep Learning training. The objective is twofold: firstly, to detect people, their movement and speed; and secondly, to produce “Occupancy” and “Count & Speed” cartographies that highlight commuters’ spatial patterns. These situated cartographies provide valuable insights into urban design, mobility, and interaction within a conflicted public space’s-built environment. The generated data offer planners and policymakers quantitative spatial information to consider local practices and dynamics in urban planning, particularly in situations of informality and insufficient urban infrastructure.

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