The Allende park, the Aylwin parks: urban projects and political discourses

Abstract

Using a comparative method, this paper analyzes two case studies that illus-trate the relationship between urban parks and political discourses in Santiago de Chile. The first case examines Parque O’Higgins, a park developed to transform the bourgeois Parque Cousiño, into a proletarian recreation facility during the socialist government of Unidad Popular (1970-1973). The second case analyzes the public parks program spear-headed by the Chilean Ministry of Housing and Urbanism after the return of democracy in 1990. While Parque O’Higgins proposed a new design and execution model for public space, the parks of the political transition implemented a participatory design strategy. In both cases, the state shaped these parks to reflect the particularity of each historical moment. This comparative study is relevant because it helps understand how the Chilean state’s vision for public green areas changed throughout the 20th century and illuminates the urban imaginaries behind public space.