Lifestyle

Families in Cuenca and across Zone 6 are preparing for the September 1 school year, with basic supply lists around $25, basic-education uniforms around $76, and shoes starting at $22.

A Cuenca studio is pushing regenerative architecture beyond pretty green walls. Estromas is working on projects that bring plants, animals, water systems, bamboo, and neighborhood context into the design itself.

Cuenca closed June with a basic family basket of $876.71, the highest among Ecuador’s measured cities in the first half of 2026. For expats tracking monthly costs, housing, utilities, transport, and recreation were the pressure points to watch.

A three-level ethnographic museum in Cumbe keeps local objects, school memories, farm tools, music items, and an agro-solar observatory about one kilometer from the parish central park.

Azuay’s provincial government is paving 600 meters near the Collay River bridge in Sevilla de Oro, with the work expected to improve local mobility, tourism access, and transport for nearby communities.

The Todos Santos archaeological complex is set for rehabilitation, museum upgrades and a new role in Azuay's Cruz del Sur archaeological route. The project links the Cuenca site with Ingapirca, Paredones de Molleturo, Chobshi and Dumapara.

La figura compleja del Rey is open at Sala Proceso in Cuenca through July 17. The exhibition combines art, testimony and neuroscience research, with free entry during weekday hours.

Cuenca’s new Parque de los Jóvenes is under construction with a 3,000-person agora, sports courts, walking paths and a planned pedestrian bridge over the Yanuncay. The project has a roughly $2.8 million investment and is scheduled through the end of the year.

Ecuador and Peru are discussing a regional air route that could connect Cuenca with Chiclayo, and eventually link Galápagos, Cuenca, Chiclayo and Cuzco. The idea follows an open-skies memorandum signed during the IV Andean Air Transport Forum in Quito.