Territorial transformation of San Cristóbal (Venezuela) during the second half of the twentieth century. One process and different authors

Abstract

The second half of the twentieth century constitutes to San Cristóbal —city of the Venezuelan Andes— the period in which it experiments the most significant changes. Those are crucial years in which a series of accomplishments are generated, leaving their stamp in the territory. Among the dissimilar approaches to the interpretation of the growth of the cities, the one related to real estate promotion has been chosen for this research, regarding the urban land production mechanisms. The location and proportion of the different social agents’ actions during the periods: 1950-1970 and 1971-2000, allow the appreciation of the importance of housing public promotions and informal settlements in the direction that the urban growth has adopted. The private real estate developers in the social and spatial segregation are also remarkable aspects during this period. Among the instruments that have been used, are the cartography, urban land sale documents and construction allowances.