Exploring new concepts on urban peripheries: An approach to residential segregation as initial point to housing policy formulation

MARENGO, CECILIA

Santiago de Chile

Congreso; Seminario Internacional Red ALFA -IBIS & Red RIDEAL; 2005

Red ALFA IBIS - Red Rideal. Universidad Catolica de Chile

Transformations derived from globalization have introduced significant changes on urban systems. Segregation is one of the most complex issues in social-urban research because integrates different dimensions of social reality: that is to say economic, cultural, political and spatial dimensions. According to Sabatini (2004:277) is usual that ontological difference between diverse sides of social word is confused with epistemological difference between an essential phenomena (social, cultural, economic, political) and its visible manifestation (in the space) In this case, the spatial dimension could be understood only as the expression of the phenomena, postulating a symmetric relation between social inequity and residential segregation. In this work I assumed that the spatial dimension interacts with society, consequently it could not be simply understood as an external sign. It looks for to overcome a direct relation between inequality and segregation, trying to explain which are the links between segregation and other processes that could be attenuating or intensifying it (as housing policy and urban land markets). The aim of this article is to introduce the analysis of residential segregation, taking as study case Cordoba city and bringing answer to the following questions: To what extend the process of segregation is taking place in Cordoba city? Which areas present higher levels of socio-economic segregation and extreme-poverty concentration? Which are the changes in terms of social segregation in the decade 1991-2001? And at least How housing policy interacts in this process?