IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section A
Abstract
Urban growth in Chilean cities, particularly in the northern and central regions of the country, is experiencing a sustained increase in the construction of housing in areas not regulated by land-use planning instruments. Since 2019, the growth of encampments has been exponential due to the effects of the pandemic and an unprecedented migratory process. In just five years, encampments increased by 56%, highlighting the historical crisis in housing. The deficit amounts to approximately 555,000 homes in the country. Thus, there is a need to study how irregular housing is being integrated into the city. The research focuses on two communes on the central coast, Viña del Mar (a tourist area) and San Antonio (a port area), where the largest encampments in the country are located and that lack at least one of the three basic services (electricity, drinking water, and sewage systems). The methodology is based on the use of geographic information systems, mapping the boundaries of these settlements, geolocating the homes, and overlaying the potential risks to which the population is exposed, since most are situated near combustible vegetation and ravines, highlighting the likelihood of fires in urban-forest interfaces and mass movement events. The contribution of the research lies in evidencing and helping to improve urban planning in the studied cities.
I am a geographer with over 10 years of experience, currently serving as the Technical Manager at the Regional Observatory for Sustainable Urban Development (ORUS) at the School of Architecture of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Chile. My work focuses on researching, analyzing, modeling, and managing territorial complexity from an integrated perspective, using advanced information technologies. I have led applied territorial studies, developing urban and rural vulnerability indices, and methods for assessing the risk of forest fires.
Álvaro Mercado Jara is an architect and an Associate Professor at the School of Architecture and Design of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile). He holds a PhD in Architecture and Urbanism from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). His research projects focus on exploring situated speculative practices for tracing and futuring transformation and resiliences in the web of life related to extended and extractivist urbanization in local and regional hinterlands of South America.
David Luza is an architect from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Dr. in Architecture UPC-Barcelona. Founding partner of the Cultural Corporation Amereida and director of the School of Architecture and Design of the PUCV. His dedication has been to teaching, experimentation of architecture in Ciudad Abierta and research on urban issues, under the line Habitability in Urban Infrastructure. He has participated in urban development programs for Valparaíso; also in infrastructure and urban equipment projects; design of interpretative equipment for the Humberstone and Santa Laura saltpeter works and works in the Amereida Travesías.
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Wednesday 16th July, 2025