Víctor Alegría Corona

Supervisor: Professor Kim Dovey

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MORPHOGENESIS
Informal Settlements in Chile

Chilean housing policy has been internationally recognised to be successful in quantitative terms, by being able to provide shelter for informal dwellers through a housing subsidy model. This approach has led to a consistent reduction of informal settlements since the 1980’s through the provision of segregated housing complex and neighbourhoods, mainly located in the urban periphery. However, data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (2018) shows a considerable increase of informal settlements in most of the Chilean cities during the last decade, due to the high cost of housing rent, the need of independence, low income and lack of employment.

The current production of informal settlements in Chile is an emerging phenomenon with unpredictable outcomes. In many cases, the informal city can be formalized through an incremental process, becoming the permanent urban framework. Regarding this, it is crucial to understand the spatial logics involved in the production of informal architecture and urban design. Although there is a growing body research about informal settlements in Chile, there is not a clear understanding of the morphogenic process that generates them.

The aim of the study is to have a better comprehension of informal urbanism in Chilean metropolitan cities with a focus on urban morphology and morphogenic processes. At a metropolitan level, the objective is to study the various mixes of formal/informal morphologies that take place in the city. Key questions are the following: to what degree is the informal production of the city present in Chilean cities? What kind of patterns are evident in informal settlements location and growth? Furthermore, what set of spatial relations are taking place between the formal and the informal city?

At a micro-scale level, the research seeks to comprehend the morphogenic processes of the informal settlements. Through a comparative mapping that shows the emergence of the informal architecture and urban design frameworks, the study intends to answer the following questions: What kind of incremental construction defines the informal addition of buildings? What are the patterns that emerge from the informal street network and how do they relate with the formal stablished grid? What kind of public space is produced? What type of codes are visible and how do they mediate the informal urban growth? And finally, what are the commonalities and differences of the informal urban morphology across the diverse geographies, locations and social context of major Chilean cities? Overall, the  aim is to understand the underlying spatial logics that produce a given urban form, and how this form establishes an urban framework that is susceptible to be formalized and upgraded, determining the future expansion of the city.

Urban Design 2020_summer