The Displacement of Santiago de Chile’s Downtown during 1990–2015: Travel Time Effects on Eradicated Population

Abstract

The center of activities of Santiago de Chile has been continuously evolving towards the eastern part of the city, where the most affluent residents live. This paper characterizes the direction and magnitude of this evolution through an indicator stating how much the built surface area for service purposes grows in different areas in the city. To identify the impact of this evolution, we compare residents’ travel-time distributions from different sectors in the city to the central area. This travel-time comparison is focused on the sectors where informal settlements were massively eradicated between 1978–1985 and those areas where the settlements were relocated. This analysis show that this policy and the consequent evolution of the city were detrimental to the affected families, significantly increasing average travel time to the extended center of the city and inequality among different socioeconomic groups in the city. Although the phenomenon is quite visible to everyone, it has not received any policy reaction from the authority. These findings suggest that middle and low-income sectors would benefit if policies driving the evolution of the center of activities towards them were implemented.

Car dependency in the urban margins: The influence of perceived accessibility on mode choice

“…Nonetheless, the case of Santiago has experienced forms of segregation that are strongerand more intentionalthan elsewhere. Between 1979 and 1985, an eradication policy implemented by the dictatorship displaced families away from the eastside areas that are today occupied by a concentration of high-income residents and the main economic activities (Suazo-Vecino et al, 2020). As a consequence, the poorest households are often living in low accessibility areas with few job or school opportunities (Tiznado-Aitken et al, 2021), making most work-related trips being directed towards the eastern part of the city, with travel expenses representing a high share of the income for many lower income households.…”

Gobernanza del transporte en áreas metropolitanas: revisión crítica y análisis para Santiago de Chile

“…La transformación señalada ha impactado la configuración y movilidad urbana, con crecimientos significativos en la tasa de motorización, número de viajes, uso del automóvil y niveles de congestión (Figueroa, 2005;Monzón, 2005;Moscoso et al, 2020). A ello se suma la segregación social y de usos de suelo, que ha favorecido el aumento de la longitud promedio de los viajes, en particular para la población de menores ingresos (Suazo-Vecino et al, 2020). Por otra parte, las áreas metropolitanas se han transformado en un espacio clave para enfrentar el cambio climático, recibiendo especial atención en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ods) de las Naciones Unidas.…”

Measuring the local complementarity of population, amenities and digital activities to identify and understand urban areas of interest

“…Large Latin American cities are often defined by a concentration of economic activity around a central spine running from the central business district to affluent neighbourhoods with large employment centres (Rodríguez-Vignoli and Rowe, 2017). Peripheral and radial areas are characterised by ‘disamenities’ or limited local amenities (Suazo-Vecino et al, 2019). Our findings surface unseen patterns in the complementarity of digital and material activities in Santiago; thus, they extend existing conceptual urban models of Latin American cities.…”