A City of Owners. The Case of Población La Victoria

Abstract

This article visits the main stages in the development of Población La Victoria, located in the Commune of Pedro Aguirre Cerda (Santiago). Based on a documentary collection, three moments are discussed: the formation of the settlement in 1 957 through land squatting; the physical consolidation and regularization process in the following years; and the protests against the Master Plan in Pedro Aguirre Cerda (2005-2006) and against the fast train to Rancagua project (201 2-2014). The action of dwellers was consistent with institutional policies in several aspects. Both were based on certain shared ideas: housing as a right; the solution of housing problems depends on plot ownership; and land access has to be ordered and regulated, both in morphological and legal terms. These principles sustained Santiago's growth during the fifties and sixties, creating an ownership pattern that still conditions the city's transformation processes, as shown by citizen protests during the past decade.