THE 2013 CASLE LECTURE PRIZE was awarded to Galina Alova

Galina was born in Estonia and educated in Britain. She holds an MA degree in Economics from the University of Glasgow and an MPhil degree in Urban Planning from the University of Cambridge. Galina’s main research interests lie in spatial economics, international trade and development. She is currently working as an Overseas Development Institute Fellow in the Ministry of Trade and Industry in the Republic of Namibia. Her main areas of responsibility are to lead country’s value chain analysis and further industrialisation policy.

Latin America has demonstrated steady economic performance. This is, however, fraught with several challenges, including rapid urbanisation, poverty and housing inequalities. This article presents the results from a qualitative study conducted in the capital of Ecuador – Quito. The study revealed dramatic disparities in housing and living conditions across and within neighbourhoods, rooted in a vast income gap and severe socio-physical isolation. The private and public housing sectors tend to be largely oriented on serving the needs of upper-low and middle-income groups, while people in extreme poverty or on very low incomes remain largely excluded.