Planning for the Buen Vivir: socialism, decentralisation and urbanisation in rural Ecuador

Guided by the Buen Vivir (good living) developmental philosophy, Alianza PAIS, Ecuador's leftist party in power since 2007, aims to 'urbanise' rural areas in order to decentralise economic activity and the population away from the main cities. Through a case study of a poor rural region of Ecuador, our research provides insights into how planning, modernisation goals and Buen Vivir are intertwined and explores the challenges of operationalising state development and planning ideals. This paper is structured into four sections. First, we situate Ecuador's urbanisation agenda in the context of broader urbancentric poverty reduction strategies, socialist planning ideologies and Latin American decentralisation. Second, we introduce Ecuador's national urbanisation strategy through the government document, El Plan Nacional para el Buen Vivir (PNBV). Third, we critically examine efforts to urbanise a rural canton, focusing particularly on the divergences between the spirit of the PNBV and local urbanisation efforts, and local residents' responses to urbanisation schemes. Finally, we suggest that despite the state's official rhetoric about the inherent equity of decentralisation and the transformative potential of Buen Vivir, rural urbanisation practices demonstrate a perpetuation of neo-extractivist priorities and a continuation of state control over rural areas and their resources.