Abstract

In this article, we examine the sociospatial effects of market-driven social housing policies implemented in neoliberal Chile. The study area encompasses the Valparaíso-Viña del Mar conurbation and its surrounding peri-urban and peripheral municipalities. To analyze the urban dynamic between 1990 and 2005 we use data showing the allocation of social housing complexes built during three time periods, socioeconomic data disaggregated at the district level, and semistructured interviews conducted with strategic actors from the public and private sectors. We conclude that private developers are increasingly building social housing complexes in peripheral municipalities, fragmenting the sociospatial landscape and concentrating poor families in ghetto-like compounds. We also encountered local governments (municipalities) with little capacity to mobilize the resources that they hold, and communities that remain disconnected from their local representatives. Copyright © 2009 by Bellwether Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved.