Political Economy of Housing in Chile (Routledge Studies in Urbanism and the City)

Through the lens of political economy, this book positions housing as a key factor in understanding social inequality. It does so by drawing on rich empirical evidence from the case of the Chilean housing market.

This book provides insights on the articulation between real estate development, housing provision and social inequality based on applied urban economics analyses that illustrate the contradictions of neoliberal urbanism through the case of Chile. For neoliberal urbanism, the good city is not equal for all, it is based on the principle of profitability and benefits from segregation to make capital investment more efficient. The chapters of this book expose how these processes are generated by a political system that allows them rather than by the invisible hand of the market.

The book will be of interest to graduate students in urban studies, urban planning, sociology and urban geography. It will also appeal to decision-makers and also to actors in the real estate market seeking to perfect the social benefits of their professional activities, aspiring to generate more egalitarian and just cities.

Francisco Vergara-Perucich is an architect from Universidad Central de Chile, Master in Architecture from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and MSc Building and Urban Design in Development and Doctor in Development Planning from The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London. He currently directs the Centro Producción del Espacio at Universidad de las Américas.

Carlos Aguirre-Nuñez is a civil constructor from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Master and PhD in Urban Management and Valuation from Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya. He is currently Researcher of Urban Studies at Universidad San Sebastián in Chile.

Felipe Encinas is an architect from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, MSc from the University of Nottingham in the UK, and PhD from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. He is currently Associate Professor at the School of Architecture at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a researcher at the Centre for Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS).

Rodrigo Hidalgo-Dattwyler is a geographer from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and PhD in Human Geography from the University of Barcelona. In 2014 he received the National Geography Prize awarded by the Chilean Society of Geographical Sciences of Chile. He is currently head of the PhD Programme in Geography at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Director of the Revista de Geografía Norte Grande.

Ricardo Truffello is Geographer and Master in Geography and Geomatics from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and PhD in Engineering in Complex Systems from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez de Chile. He currently directs the Observatorio de Ciudades at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Felipe Ladrón de Guevara is an architect and holds a master's degree in Urban Planning from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is currently Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture and Head of the Analysis and Quality Assurance Unit of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.