Neoliberal Lakeside Residentialism: Real Estate Development and the Sustainable Utopia in Environmentally Fragile Areas

Abstract

This article exposes the central role played by neoliberal real estate development in the transformation of two lakeside cities in southern Chile. The concept of neoliberal lakeside residentialism addresses the ways in which commercialisation of the natural world in tourism hotspots is comprehensively reshaping the environmentally fragile Andean lake district. Specifically, we hypothesise that this green utopia is rapidly becoming a dystopia as a result of the aggregate effects of real estate development on environmental sustainability. In order to analyse these tensions, we conduct a case study in the districts of Villarrica and Pucón, both located within the Lake Villarrica watershed. There is evidence of territorial metamorphosis of the Araucanía Region as areas popular with tourists are increasingly being closed off by large-scale real estate operations. We find that this “anomalous” rate of urbanisation is indeed affecting sustainability in the territory, both environmental and social, concluding that regulation of these processes is needed in order to preserve both the natural and cultural wealth of the study area.