The socioeconomic and demographic average footprint of the residential structure of cities in Latin America: the Viña del Mar – Chile case in the decade 1992-2002

Abstract

The knowledge of the socio–residential structure of Latin American cities that do not integrate their large metropolitan systems, well into the second decade of the 21st century, is still a debt of human geography. Its simple harmonization to what is observed in their metropolitan areas, which are mostly used as a study and modeling subject, seems insufficient to establish urban policies that contribute to a balanced residential–social setting. This article seeks to contribute to the production of this knowledge, communicating the main results of a research on the socio–demographic factors associated with continuity and change, registered in the last decade of the twentieth century, in the socio–residential structure of the city of Viña del Mar, a Chilean city of approximately 350.000 inhabitants.