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Urban Development at the EcuadorAmazon Frontier: Boom Towns or Gloom Towns?

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Developing Frontier Cities

Part of the book series: The GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 52))

Abstract

The Ecuador Amazon frontier (the Oriente) accounts for more than one-half of the nation’s territory but it contains only 3% of the population. Neglected for centuries, the region abruptly assumed a vital role in Ecuador’s economy in the late 1960s with the discovery of oil. Roads built to exploit this new resource facilitated largescale spontaneous colonization of the rain forest. While colonists of the prepetroleum era were mostly restricted to the Piedmont or along navigable rivers, new waves of pioneers rapidly thrust the agricultural frontier deep into the northeastern Oriente. Related problems of deforestation, pollution and conflicts between colonists and indigenous communities already have received a great deal of attention. This chapter, however, is concerned with boom towns that are becoming a fundamental component of the region’s landscape (Figure 1).

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Authors
  1. Roy Ryder
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  2. Lawrence A. Brown
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Negev Center for Regional Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Harvey Lithwick (Emeritus Professor) (Emeritus Professor)

  2. Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

    Harvey Lithwick (Emeritus Professor) (Emeritus Professor)

  3. Negev Center for Regional Development, Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Yehuda Gradus

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Ryder, R., Brown, L.A. (2000). Urban Development at the EcuadorAmazon Frontier: Boom Towns or Gloom Towns?. In: Lithwick, H., Gradus, Y. (eds) Developing Frontier Cities. The GeoJournal Library, vol 52. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1235-4_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1235-4_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5352-7

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