Segregaciones: habitar la periferia popular en Santiago, Concepción y Talca

Numerous papers have shown the negative consequences of large-scale low-income households segregation. However, both (i) the development of gated communities that have transformed Latin-American peripheries, as well as (ii) the emergence of new forms of urbanization in urban expansion areas, generate a diversification of segregation experiences among low-income households. This article presents a comparison of the experience of segregation among those households living in social housing in the compact periphery, and those living in urban expansion areas. Based on a mixed-methods research focused on three Chilean cities, findings confirm differences in (i) access to local services and infrastructure, (ii) perception of security, and (iii) territorial identities. In consequence, segregation is lived differently both in objective or material terms, and in symbolic and territorial stigma terms. We conclude discussing the applicability of the term “segregations” (in plural) and multiple territorial identities to address this phenomenon.