Abstract

The origin of co-owned high-rise social housing has its origin in Chile in the mid-thirties. Although various housing projects have managed to sustain the maintenance of the commons under this model, in many others there has been a profound state of disrepair. Although, in many cases this is the result of poor quality in terms of the architecture and spatial quality with which they were built, a determining fact is the families often face difficulties weaving a tight-knit social fabric and understanding the rules governing the administration of public goods, resulting a complex neighborhood coexistence. Based on this reality, this article consists of a historic overview that focuses on the case of housing projects built in the eighties and nineties under a quantitative logic of economic liberalism model and their current issues, as examined under a comparative documentary study addressing the regulatory and institutional framework that shaped the co-owned, high-rise social housing model implemented in Chile, in addition to its political, social, and economic context. This overview addresses aspects relative to typological and morphological changes as well as current approaches and interventions designed under public policies aimed at resolving the disrepair and sustainability of these social housing complexes and their communities.