Maki claimed that when a significant spatial experience is shared by a number of people, this is the genesis of a public space. Although Guayaquil in many sectors lacks community spaces that allow citizen coexistence and form a sense of belonging to the place that is their home, in other areas the opposite happens: there are common spaces, with a certain freedom of action (to the extent that the metropolitan police allow), where citizens do not appropriate the space that belongs to them, abandoning it and neglecting it.
Our city has many points in its favour, interesting places that are overlooked for fear of going out (in many cases the fear is lost if the destination is convenient) or due to a deliberate act of not knowing or trying to learn the offer of life that many sectors of the city offer both cultural events and community activities and places of entertainment.
Many say they are from Guayaquil but they are only so at the verbena; they are simple Guayaquileans from July and October. The rest of the year are citizens who mostly boast of not even knowing the names of their streets. And while those considered traditional and of stock abandon the neighborhoods and let the patrimonial houses be destroyed, other new Guayaquileans of distant origins do appropriate public spaces. Such is the case of the Chinese community of the center-malecón: it is very common to see them jogging, doing gymnastics choreographies, playing badminton and organizing neighborhood meetings in the Plaza de la Administración. One of its members is even restoring a heritage building in the area. This tells us that Guayaquil identity is not static, it is constantly evolving; This is how it has been for centuries: we are a port of stories. Guayaquil is a city that has many human and cultural treasures, visible and hidden, ready to be discovered, and spaces that are ready to be used. That is why I would say that the Guayaquil wood warrior is the one who makes his city his home: he lives it, enjoys it, rebukes it, shares it and helps it to be better.
