Olarte S. H. TERRITORIAL EXCLUSION AS A LIMIT TO URBAN DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF QUITO, ECUADOR 53 Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management Volume 14 Issue 4 / November 2019 ent TERRITORIAL EXCLUSION AS A LIMIT TO URBAN DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF QUITO, ECUADOR Susana Herrero OLARTE Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador olartesusana@hotmail.com Abstract Socio-spatial exclusion produces structural and chronic poverty and makes it difficult, if not impossible, for people to overcome that condition. Knowing about the main characteristics that cause social exclusion in geopolitical divisions at different levels can help governments design policies capable of improving their citizens’ quality of life. Using the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), this research aims to identify the parameters of spatial exclusion that explain poverty in the different parishes of Quito. The parameters considered herein are (a) distance to work as measured in travel time, (b) density of public transportation, and (c) healthcare and education infrastructure. Results show how these three variables do help explain poverty in Quito, except in the case of neighborhoods in the center. Keywords: Quito. Poverty. Mobility. Accessibility. Exclusion. Spatial exclusion. Social exclusion. Socio-spatial exclusion. 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, exclusion has become an essential factor in studying and reducing urban poverty. Once the causes of exclusion are identified by econometric tools, ideologically different political forces can unite and increase available resources. In addition, working with exclusion focuses on the people that continue to live in poverty, generation after generation, and cannot break out of the poverty cycle. Even though exclusion is a concept defined and more often used in high-income countries, in middle- income environments it can be useful in examining the limits of social mobility, one of t hese countries’ greatest challenges. Among the few studies that have tried to identify the constraints for leaving behind extreme poverty in middle-income countries in general, and in South America in particular, place of residence has been identified as key. These studies have concluded that their neighborhood determines people’s options and the likelihood that they will continue to be poor. This paper uses the concept of exclusion in Quito to identify the constraints on social mobility, and specifically on the possibility of breaking out of extreme poverty. The study compares the Mobility Index