Support for places or people? Two chilean projects for socially integrated housing

Abstract

Non-segregated social housing, or socially integrated housing, is a contemporary public policy challenge, known internationally as " inclusionary housing". In this paper we discuss its progress and weakness in Chile, the only Latin American country that has developed a national policy for socially integrated housing. We will critically analyze two experiences developed in the country based on two internationally disputed policy approaches: Ribera Norte in Concepción, a place-based approach; and San Alberto de Casas Viejas in Santiago, a peoplebased approach. Strictly speaking both experiences mix these two types of support, but in different ways.Based on a comparative analysis of its achievements and limitations, we argue for the need to redesign the current social integration housing policy, in order to improve its capacity to confront processes of sociospatial segregation, specifically the ghettoization of social housing and the expulsion of the new social housing outside cities.