Socioeconomic and Spatial Integration Strategies for Improved Housing and Modes of Production in La Victoria and San Joaquín in Santiago de Chile

Abstract

The main problematic of the study area -the neighborhood of La Victoria in Santiago de Chile- in spite of its many positive characteristics- is facing social-spatial segregation and fragmentation. Instead of proposing an urban design intervention project for the area a series of alternative strategic planning instruments are proposed that have been specifically designed for the urban situation of La Victoria and its immediate surroundings, that are to be implemented on the decision-making levels of urban and spatial policy. One of the most interesting elements in the Master thesis is the integration of all the involved parties: from the state and politics on all scales to the local inhabitants, who adopt a highly pro-active and participatory role within the decision-making processes, the implementation of specific urban interventions, and the maintenance of the built and social environments. The project aims at changing existing power-relations into more inclusive, integrative formations capable of producing a sustainable transformation. The contribution to the field of strategic urban and spatial planning is that it proposes alternatives to the conventional ‘top-down’ approaches to social housing in developing urban areas and if developed further- may be promising at the level of actual implementation.