Uploaded on 2017-02-07 by Mónica Naranjo

1. Which are your top livability criteria? • Health care • Environment • Infrastructure • Safety • Transportation 2. Why do we live where we live? I live in the city of Quito, capital of Ecuador. One of the main reasons I chose to stay in my hometown is the climate, as Quito is located on the Equator Line, the weather is really nice, we have the lowest temperature at 10°c and the highest at 23°c, and this temperatures are regular during the whole year, with minor changes. The second reason is the natural landscape. Quito is located on a valley on Los Andes, which means we are surrounded by mountains, beautiful volcanos and a variety of flora and fauna. As the capital of Ecuador, in Quito you find the most important education centers, such as Universities; this also means you can study your career with excellent professors and you always have the chance to continue with very important post graduate programs. Quito is the most important financial and economic city of Ecuador. So it is the place to live if you have great job expectations. Quito is well known for having the best paid jobs in the country. Finally, living in a big city means you also have access to health. Here are located the most important hospitals and clinics. Some patients living on rural territories have to move in to Quito when they have to being treated for a long time, like in cases of cancer. 3. To what extend does your own place of residence fulfill your ideal livability criteria? I would have to say that even though Quito is the biggest city of Ecuador, we are still really far to reach an adequate livability standard. I would give Quito a 60, since the public transportation is terrible, the safety indexes are worse every year, the local government does not work on public spaces or parks, we have lots of contamination so the air condition is not good. 4. What would you change? I think that the most important issue right now is the lack of public transportation. Right now we only have buses, and just this year we began the construction of the subway, with only ONE line. I would prepare my city for the next decades, seems pretty obvious that the single line of the subway is not enough to face the problem even today, and with the projection of population for the next years this is really a main problem that needs a solution right now . I would create a network of public transportation, connecting subway, busses, and tram, with private and ecological mediums such as bicycles. 5. Why do we move? If I would move, it would be to Amsterdam, Copenhagen or Geneva. These cities are known for their concern about the environment, they promote recycling, the use of bicycles, etc. In these cities you do not have to own a car to move across the city since they have great public transportation. Also, as important cities they have great education centers. In the three cases they are important business and financial centers in their countries. As an architect, I’m always interested in cities with great architecture and cultural life. The three of them have these qualities.