Segregated peripheries of Gran Valparaíso, Chile: new walls for social-urban integration in the Chilean city

The Latin American city is structured by structural social inequality, expressed in an inequitable distribution of people and urban goods across the city. Therefore, analyzing the degree of residential segregation associated with the expansion of these cities is fundamental for urban policy design. Using spatial statistical techniques, we analyze the level of residential segregation existing in the urban expansion areas between 1992 and 2017 in the Valparaíso Metropolitan Area (MAV), Chile. The results show that suburban expansion zones develop with higher levels of residential segregation than the rest of the city. Moreover, social housing subsidies aimed at the development of projects with social mixing are located in highly segregated areas. The pattern of highly socially segregated suburban areas challenges Chilean urban policy and its objective of social integration.