Centering on critical urban issues such as gentrification, displacement, housing, property rights, crime, poverty, education, economy, informality and discrimination by race, gender and age, the San Roque Thesis Collective, composed of six students from the MS in Design and Urban Ecologies and two students from the MA in Theories of Urban Practice, dedicated a full year to research, theorize, critique and develop urban intervention strategies in relation to the imminent re-structuring of the urban ecology surrounding the Mercado San Roque, a traditional food market at the periphery of Quito’s historic center, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.