Uploaded on 2016-06-27 by Victor Molina

This is not a war zone, despite the fact it looks like one of them. This is the city of Portoviejo, Ecuador five days after the an earthquake hit this urban settlement. From the reading of this image some lessons are learned for future cities planners that look for sustainability strategies in their urban projects. First of all, it is very important to consider that electric power grids must be located underneath, otherwise when the place is being hit by a shake or an earthquake, electric cables could increase the risk during evacuation and/or rescue operations. In the second place, we can read from the image that buildings become part of the urban fabric over decades or even centuries. Meaning that, taller and stronger structures that are build next to smaller, weaker and older structures, could affect them badly, putting at risk the lives of their occupants. Finally, it very important for rescue teams to have maps and blueprints of buildings in hand. It might suppose to upload urban and architectural information in the cloud, in order to be used - with the proper access permission- when most needed.