Industrialization, development and city: sociodemographic and spatial transformations within the social geography of greater Concepción (1950-2010)

Authors

  • Enrique Aliste Almuna Universidad de Chile
  • Miguel Contreras Alonso Universidad de Chile
  • Valeria Sandoval Manriquez Universidad de Chile

Abstract

There have been important transformations regarding the sociodemographic and urban structure in Greater Concepción over the last sixty years; these changes have been related to the import-substitution industrialization and the consequent integration of the national economy within the globalized market. This paper analyzes these transformations by using socio-educational, age and employment in industry and services indicators so as to verify if the spatial behavior was linked to these processes, putting them in perspective against the notion of progress and development. The results show an early concentration of employment in industry in the peri-urban area. The socio-educational structure retained high income groups in the downtown area of Concepción, but it has recently showed a more peripheral localization, in line with metropolization mechanisms and the liberalization of the land market. This article presents two moments of the city: one belonging to the idea of progress and the other is the notion of development; both concepts are discussed by taking the social geography of the city as a basis.

Author Biographies

Enrique Aliste Almuna, Universidad de Chile

BA in Geography, Escuela de Geografía, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad de Chile; MA in Management and Environmental Planning, Universidad de Chile; Ph.D.(C) Studies on Development, Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales –EHESS- Paris, France. Professor, Departamento de Geografía, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad de Chile.

Miguel Contreras Alonso, Universidad de Chile

BA in Geography, Universidad de Chile. MA in Geography, specializing in Urban-Regional Planning, Universidad de Chile. Professor, Departamento de Geografía, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, Universidad de Chile

Valeria Sandoval Manriquez, Universidad de Chile

Geographer, Universidad de Chile