Land Use Planning and Community Development in the Discourse of the Community Leaders of the Palmar Commune, Canton Santa Elena

Abstract

Introduction: Land use planning is essential for the efficient management and administration of land, contributing to the sustainable development of communities by establishing boundaries and managing conflicts. However, in the province of Santa Elena, inadequate planning and poor resource management have limited territorial development, especially in areas such as the Comuna Palmar. Objective: To analyze how land use planning and communal development are represents in the current discourse of the leaders of Comuna El Palmar, in the Santa Elena Canton.. Materials and Methods: A qualitative approach, along with a descriptive scope, has been employed. Techniques such as focus groups, interviews, and observation have been used for data collection to analyze the discourse of the leaders in detail. Results: The discourse of the leaders of the Comuna highlights the need to improve land use planning but reveals a lack of coherence in its implementation. Discussion: There is a discrepancy between the leaders' discourse, which emphasizes the need for sustainable development and better land use planning, and the reality of ineffective implementation, marked by a lack of continuity in projects and weak cohesion between public policies and local needs. Conclusions: It is evident that, despite recognizing the importance of land use planning for sustainable development, there is a significant gap between the expressed intentions and the effective execution of policies, which has perpetuated structural challenges and limited progress in key areas such as tourism and resource management.