Gentrificación en Chile: aportes conceptuales y evidencias para una discusión necesaria

Abstract

For the last decade, Latin America and Chile have seen intensive class-led processes of urban restructuring, namely gentrification. This article offers a critical revision of gentrification theory whilst emphasizing what is regular versus what is contingent (or particular) of the process, in order to better engage the local debate with the global academia. In a second part, the article substantiates a hypothesis about the politico-economic character of the processes of gentrification experienced by the major Chilean cities, focusing on the case of the inner city of Santiago as the most representative. We analyze evidence on potential increases in ground rent levels and the monopoly captured by real estate firms, as well as subsequently deliberate processes of capitalized ground rent devaluation and thus social displacement of low-income residents.