Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador

Since 1999, following repeated devastation from flooding and mudslides, the Ecuadorian coastal city of Bahía de Caráquez has committed itself by law to rebuilding according to standards of ecological sustainability. The city, renowned for its beaches and neotropical forest, was essentially rebuilt from the ground up, with an emphasis on ecotourism and upscale hotels, and has since become one of Ecuador's most popular resorts for upper-class tourists. Through a partnership with the San Francisco–based Planet Drum Foundation, Bahía has applied an ecological strategy known as “bioregionalism,” as it continues to develop both urban infrastructure and local ecosystems.

Bahía is a small city of great regional political and economic importance located on a sandy peninsula at the mouth of the Río Chone estuary on the country's western ...