Investigating the Impact of Urbanisation in Santiago, Chile

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Investigating the Impact of Urbanisation in Santiago, Chile

Introduction

I am looking at the effects which have taken place in Santiago due to

urbanisation and also what their government has done to make it

better. The urbanisation that has taken place in Chile’s capital city

has the same causes, problems and advantages as many other cities. The

main aspect to look at is the growth in population and the density of

the city. This tells us how rapidly or slowly urbanisation has taken

place over a period of time.

Santiago’s Growth History

After the World War Two the capital city of Santiago saw a very rapid

industrialisation. Urbanisation occurred also much earlier in Chile

than most other countries. When we look at the statistics they too

reflect this urbanisation. By 1960 Chile was already 68% urbanised

which was a huge figure during this early period. This ongoing, speedy

change of rural to urban migration, continued and in 1980 81% of Chile

was now urbanised. The most urbanisation took place in Santiago which

in itself contained over a third of all Chile’s population.

To show the real increase I have looked at the numbers that have

ascended over a certain period of time. From 1975 to 1989 Santiago’s

population had increased starting at just under 3½ million to roughly

5 million people.

Housing Difficulties

Urbanisation had a massive impact on the housing in Santiago. It was

unable to house the sheer increase in numbers that had urbanised. In

the 1970’s lack of houses was inevitable, and housing shortages were

particularly bad for the poorer people who simply couldn’t afford to

buy property or land. Finally it was in 1981 where protests were held

to help the homeless; eventually they were seeking refuge in many

churches.

In Santiago there is the Barrio Alto District. This is in a quarter of

the north east suburbs, where people moved to in the early 1900’s to

escape the hectic city area. The Barrio Alto contained places of

illegal and incredibly poor quality housing - squatter settlements or

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