This study evaluates the spatial behavior of an intermodal transportation hub in Carapungo, one of the densest neighborhoods in Quito, Ecuador. This public infrastructure is deficient and lacks adequate equipment for the people who use, occupy, and transit within and around it, as well as for the numerous activities that occur, particularly at Carapungo’s Entry Park. Traditional methods for analyzing urban dynamics and land use are typically rigid and fail to grasp the complex and nonlinear nature of public spaces, especially in informal Global South cities. However, recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, combined with aerial drone videos, have enabled the modeling and prediction of urban dynamics beyond state regulations and formal planning. In this context, we developed a model using Computer Vision Technology and the YOLOv5 algorithm, incorporating Deep Learning training. The objective is twofold: firstly, to detect people, their movement and speed; and secondly, to produce “Occupancy” and “Count & Speed” cartographies that highlight commuters’ spatial patterns. These situated cartographies provide valuable insights into urban design, mobility, and interaction within a conflicted public space’s-built environment. The generated data offer planners and policymakers quantitative spatial information to consider local practices and dynamics in urban planning, particularly in situations of informality and insufficient urban infrastructure.

Through the understanding of cartography as an alternative representation tool, this paper researches the existing and usually invisible relationships between informal micro-activities and formal public spaces. For this purpose, Carapungo Entry Park located in the north of Quito (Ecuador), is taken as a case study, being a paradigmatic case of the complexity and multiplicity that constitutes informality in Latin American cities. After a first analysis based on the formal planning of this park, we will focus on dissident spatial practices carried out by inhabitants who occupy and appropriate a formal space. These situations of conflict originate spatial constructions based on spontaneity, fluidity, adaptability, movement, and temporality, which include local culture, economy, and social interaction. With the production of cartographies, the processes and activities generated by formal and informal vendors, passers-by, and public transport passengers, are made visible and analyzed. The expected results based on cartography as an alternative representation, are the presentation of relations of tensions, forces, conflicts, and negotiations that allow us to identify patterns, trends and behaviors that have no place in the supposed precision and rigor of the regulations in the formal planning of public space.

Ecological design is crucial in shaping contemporary, resilient, and livable cities. The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Refinery, a prominent landmark in the Mid-Atlantic, serves as an exemplary case study for understanding advanced metropolitan processes and integrating trans-scalar, transdisciplinary, and nature-based solutions (NBS) practices into urban contexts. This article explores the challenges of transforming obsolete industrial areas, including the refinery’s decommissioning process, its port, and industrial heritage value, and their relationship with the sea, into vibrant urban cores. It examines innovative strategies for land use, decontamination, and urban resilience, which are vital for fostering adaptability and recovery from natural and anthropogenic disasters. By emphasizing the refinery’s connection to Santa Cruz de Tenerife and its metropolitan area, as well as its coastal interface, this study proposes a comprehensive methodology to assess the territorial impacts of urban processes and guide project decisions toward enhancing the quality of life for the region’s residents.

A partir de la figura de Peter Eisenman, el artículo presenta el concepto de diagrama y su importancia en la producción arquitectónica de las últimas décadas, para, a continuación, evidenciar cómo semejante herramienta proyectual no sólo permite pensar, visibilizar y especular en torno a la forma arquitectónica, sino a las fuerzas contextuales que rodean a toda construcción espacial. Esta hipótesis será soportada mediante el análisis crítico de dos obras literarias: Diagram Diaries de Eisenman y Urban Flotsam: Stirring the city, de Raoul Bunschoten/CHORA, acompañadas de varios ejemplos ilustrativos donde se hace visible la expresión gráfica de dichas fuerzas y la influencia que tienen las mismas a la hora de abordar la forma y programa del proyecto arquitectónico, urbano o territorial.