The postcolonial city as universal nostalgia

A modern metropolis of nearly two million souls in the heart of the Ecuadorian Andes, Quito has long been perceived as an old, stagnant and nostalgic city. This article attempts to trace the origins of the city’s longing for its past by analysing the continued relevance of the Spanish concept of vecindad in the city’s postcolonial history. It is argued that the city’s olden identity stems from a complex matrix of regional power disputes with roots in the colonial era. Nineteenth‐century coastal liberals branded the Andean citadel as emblematic of national backwardness, while twentieth‐century conservatives sought to identify the city as Ecuador’s Spain. These metaphors continue to form an essential part of its identity today as an eternal idyll.