Migrant housing: practices of appropriation of urban space by Venezuelan migrants in Quito

Abstract

This paper aims to understand how the dwelling and spatial appropriation processes of the Venezuelan migrant population are constructed in urban spaces in Quito, Ecuador. For this purpose, we use Henry Lefebvre's theoretical discussion on the social production of space and its components: conceived space, lived space, perceived space, together with the concepts of dwelling and appropriation. The idea is to inscribe a new perspective to the phenomenon of migrations in Latin America by joining urban studies and migration studies. For this, we use a qualitative methodology, which brings together techniques such as interview and observation, with the intention of arguing that the construction of inhabiting arises from a spatial appropriationthat includes ways of relating, living, and using space on the part of migrants, as opposed to the dynamics of the locals and the visions on urban space from theState.