Urban Deterioration and the Production of Internal Peripheries: Symbolic Dispossession in Valparaiso’s (Chile) Heritage Sector
Authors
-
Hector Berroeta
Universidad de Valparaíso
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5742-8193
-
Jorge Ulloa-Martínez
Universidad Viña del Mar
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4938-5477
Download
Abstract
This study examines the role of urban deterioration in the production of internal peripheries within central heritage contexts, taking the Puerto de Valparaíso sector as a case study. Through a mixed-methods approach that combines spatially referenced interviews and on-site surveys, the research analyzes residents’ perceptions, practices, and experiences regarding deteriorated spaces. The findings show that urban deterioration cannot be understood solely as physical obsolescence, but rather as a socially produced process that articulates material, symbolic, and psychosocial dimensions. Within this framework, evidence of internal peripheralization emerges, where the sector’s geographical centrality contrasts with its functional, symbolic, and emotional exclusion. Deterioration operates as a mechanism of symbolic dispossession, generating an ambivalent experience in which identity attachment coexists with disaffection and insecurity. At the same time, horizons of re-signification emerge from community expectations of recovery and collective uses of degraded spaces. The study concludes that urban revitalization and heritage policies must incorporate residents’ subjective and psychosocial experiences, advancing toward a framework of spatial justice.
Keywords:
urban deterioration , internal peripheralization , symbolic displacement , urban exclusion , Valparaíso (Chile)References
Adán, J. (2008). La gestión del patrimonio cultural en Chile: problemas, hipótesis centrales y metodología de la investigación. En P. Andueza (Ed.), El patrimonio cultural como factor de desarrollo en Chile. Bases teóricas y metodológicas de una gestión con enfoque ecosistémico (pp. 13-32). Universidad de Valparaíso.
Anokhin, A. A. y Kuzin, V. Y. (2019). Approaches to identifying the periphery and peripheralization in the space of modern Russia. Regional Research of Russia, 9(4), 311–317. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079970519040026
Bachmann-Vargas, P. y van Koppen, C. S. A. (2020). Disentangling environmental and development discourses in a peripheral spatial context: The case of the Aysén Region, Patagonia, Chile. The Journal of Environment & Development, 29(3), 366–390. https://doi.org/10.1177/1070496520937041
Bernt, M. y Colini, L. (2013). Exclusion, marginalization and peripheralization: Conceptual concerns in the study of urban inequalities. Institut für Regionalentwicklung und Strukturplanung. (Working Paper 49). https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/228579
Berroeta, H. y Vidal, T. (2012). Una propuesta multimétodo para un abordaje transaccional del espacio público en la escala de barrio. Athenea Digital, 12(1), 209-237. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenead/v12n1.927
Braun, V. y Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. Sage.
Cáceres Seguel, C. (2019). Turismo, gentrificación y presión por desplazamiento en los cerros Concepción y Alegre de Valparaíso. Revista INVI, 34(97), 157-177. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-83582019000300157
Cáceres Seguel, C. (2023). Valparaíso: Touristification and displacement in a UNESCO city. Journal of Urban Affairs, 46, 1192–1204. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2023.2203400
Cáceres Seguel, C. (2024a). Valparaíso patrimonio Unesco: Turistificación dirigida por el Estado y las voces de un ciclo urbano en disputa. Punto Sur, 11. https://doi.org/10.34096/ps.n11.14331
Cáceres Seguel, C. (2024b). Valparaíso y el ciclo urbano pos-Unesco 2003-2022: Turistificación, patrimonio, y configuración de un espacio urbano elitizado. EURE, 50(151). https://doi.org/10.7764/EURE.50.151.01
Caimanque, R. (2019). The politics of urban regeneration: The construction of uneven urban agendas through multi-scalar coalitions in Valparaiso [tesis de doctorado]. University College London. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10071565/
Caimanque, R. (2023). The life and death of the ‘Baron mall’: The shifting politics of urban regeneration in Valparaiso. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 41(5), 884-902. https://doi.org/10.1177/23996544231163072
Caldeira, T. (2000). City of walls: Crime, segregation and citizenship in Sao Paulo. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520341593
Copus, A., Mantino, F., y Noguera, J. (2017). Inner peripheries: An oxymoron or a real challenge for territorial cohesion? Italian Journal of Planning Practice, 7(1). https://ijpp.dicam.unitn.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2-Copus-et-al-2017-1.pdf
Coulomb, R. y Schteingart, M. (2006). Entre el Estado y el mercado: La vivienda en el México de hoy. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana.
Creswell, J. y Plano-Clark, V. (2017). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage.
De Biaggi, G. D. (2024). ‘Security’ and private governance in São Paulo’s corporate centrality frontier. Urban Studies, 61(14), 2817–2834. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980241227148
de Certeau, M. (2010). La invención de lo cotidiano. 1 Artes de hacer. Universidad Iberoamericana.
Di Masso, A., Berroeta, A., Pradillo, H., y Aleu, C. (2022). Gentrificación y desposesión de lugar: dinámicas subjetivas del desplazamiento simbólico y la micro segregación. Anuario de Psicología, 52, 97–106. https://doi.org/10.1344/ANPSIC2022.52/1.12
Di Virgilio, M. y Perelman, M. (Coords.). (2021). Desigualdades urbanas en tiempos de crisis. Ediciones UNL/Flacso.
El Bouaaichi, A. (2013). Territorial assessment of the urban peripheries fragmentation in Fez, Morocco. ARCC Conference Repository. https://arcc-journal.org/index.php/repository/article/view/120
Escolà-Gascón, Á., Dagnall, N., Drinkwater, K., y Denovan, A. (2024). Abandoned vs. regenerated places: Evidence of five social impacts that improve urban planning. Cities, 146, 104739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104739
Falk, M. y Hagsten, E. (2023). A management perspective on threats to cultural world heritage sites. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 29(3), 167-183. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2023.2176348
Falk, M. y Hagsten, E. (2024). Factors with ambiguous qualities for cultural world heritage sites. Journal of Cultural Heritage, 66, 384-391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2023.12.009
Fetters, M. D. y Tajima, C. (2022). Joint displays of integrated data collection in mixed methods research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221104564
Fischer-Tahir, A. y Naumann, M. (Eds.). (2013). Peripheralization. The making of spatial dependencies and social injustice. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-19018-1
Flick, U. (2007). Introducción a la investigación cualitativa. Morata.
Gerundo, R., Nesticò, A., Marra, A., y Carotenuto, M. (2020). Peripheralization risk mitigation: A decision support model to evaluate urban regeneration programs effectiveness. Sustainability, 12(19). https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198024
Harvey, D. (2013). Ciudades rebeldes: del derecho de la ciudad a la revolución urbana. Akal.
Hidalgo Dattwyler, R., Santana Rivas, L. D., y Link, F. (2019). New neoliberal public housing policies: Between centrality discourse and peripheralization practices in Santiago, Chile. Housing Studies, 34(3), 489–518. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2018.1458287
Hodgetts, D. J., Stolte, O., Chamberlain, K., Radley, A., Groot, S. y Nikora, L. W. (2010). The mobile hermit and the city: Considering links between places, objects, and identities in social psychological research on homelessness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 285-303. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466609X450465
Holston, J. (2009). Insurgent citizenship in an era of global urban peripheries. City & Society, 21(2), 245–267. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-744X.2009.01024.x
Hosseini, K., Stefaniec, A., y Hosseini, S. P. (2021). World heritage sites in developing countries: Assessing impacts and handling complexities toward sustainable tourism. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 20, 100616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2021.100616
Howe, L. B. (2022). Processes of peripheralisation: Toehold and aspirational urbanisation in the GCR. Antipode, 54(6), 1803–1828. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12844
Ilan, J. (2013). Street social capital in the liquid city. Ethnography, 14(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138112440983
Inostroza, L. (2017). Informal urban development in Latin American urban peripheries. Spatial assessment in Bogotá, Lima and Santiago de Chile. Landscape and Urban Planning, 165, 267–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2016.03.021
Jang, H. y Mennis, J. (2021). The role of local communities and well-being in UNESCO world heritage site conservation: An analysis of the operational guidelines, 1994–2019. Sustainability, 13(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137144
Jones, T. E., Bui, H. T., y Ando, K. (2022). Zoning for world heritage sites: Dual dilemmas in development and demographics. Tourism Geographies, 24(1) https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1780631
Kearns, A., Ghosh, S., Mason, P., y Egan, M. (2020). Urban regeneration and mental health: Investigating the effects of an area-based intervention using a modified intention to treat analysis with alternative outcome measures. Health & Place, 61, 102262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.102262
Kühn, M. (2015). Peripheralization: Theoretical concepts explaining socio-spatial inequalities. European Planning Studies, 23(2), 367–378. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2013.862518
Lefebvre, H. (2013). La producción del espacio. Capitán Swing.
Martland, S. J. (2008). Trade, progress, and patriotism: Defining Valparaíso, Chile, 1818-1875. Journal of Urban History, 35(1), 53–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/0096144208321876
Martone, V. y Nicola, C. (2021). La costruzione sociale dello spazio in una frontiera urbana di Roma. Marginalizzazione, criminalità e politiche di sicurezza a Montespaccato. Fuori Luogo, 9(1), 148-160.
Massey, D. (2005). For space. Sage.
Meskell, L. (2019). Heritage, gentrification, participation: Remaking urban landscapes in the name of culture and historic preservation. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25(9), 996-998. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1542334
Muñoz, A. y Goecke, C. (2025). Comunicación, valoración y responsabilidad social en el deterioro del Sitio Patrimonio Mundial de Valparaíso. EURE, 51(153), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.7764/EURE.51.153.07
Ndlebe, T. A. (2017). Assessing the impacts of urban decay on the residential land-uses [masters degree]. University of KwaZulu-Natal). http://hdl.handle.net/10413/15866
Neumann Novack, P. (2019). Expresiones del neoliberalismo en ciudades portuarias sudamericanas: Los casos de Rosario (Argentina) y Valparaíso (Chile). Cultura-Hombre-Sociedad, 29(2), 61–79. https://doi.org/10.7770/cuhso-v29n2-art2050
Oppido, S., Ragozino, S., y Esposito De Vita, G. (2023). Peripheral, marginal, or non-core areas? Setting the context to deal with territorial inequalities through a systematic literature review. Sustainability, 15(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310401
Pan, Y. y Cobbinah, P. B. (2023). Embedding place attachment: Residents’ lived experiences of urban regeneration in Zhuanghe, China. Habitat International, 135, 102796. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2023.102796
Salgado, V., Friel, S., Fotso, J. C., Khadr, Z., Meresman, S., Monge, P., y Patil-Deshmukh, A. (2011). Social conditions and urban health inequities: Realities, challenges and opportunities to transform the urban landscape through research and action. Journal of Urban Health, 88(6), 1183–1193. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9609-y
Seidel, A. (2022). How to narrate urbicides? Lidija Ginzburg’s and Miron Białoszewski’s portrayals of urban destruction. University of Bucharest Review Literary and Cultural Studies Series, 12(1), 51-65. https://doi.org/10.31178/UBR.12.1.3
Silver, J. (2021). Decaying infrastructures in the post-industrial city: An urban political ecology of the US pipeline crisis. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 4(3), 756-777. https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619890513
Tiznado-Aitken, I., Vecchio, G., Guzman, L. A., Arellana, J., Humberto, M., Vasconcellos, E., y Muñoz, J. C. (2023). Unequal periurban mobility: Travel patterns, modal choices and urban core dependence in Latin America. Habitat International, 133, 102752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2023.102752
Toro, A. M., Link, F., y Valenzuela, F. (2017). Arriendo en propiedad: Arraigo y vulnerabilidad residencial en el barrio puerto de Valparaíso. Revista INVI, 32(90), 127–157. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-83582017000200127
White, B. T., Sepe, S. M., y Masconale, S. (2014). Urban decay, austerity, and the rule of law. Emory Law Journal, 64(1). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2230652
Whitney, R. A. y Sotomayor, L. (2025). Peripheral best practices and the politics of visibility: Urban planning and social urbanism in Mexico City. Cities, 158, 105667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.105667
Yang, K. y Banamah, A. (2014). Quota sampling as an alternative to probability sampling? An experimental study. Sociological Research Online, 19(1), 56-66. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.3199
Zaslavskaya, A. y Evstratova, E. (2024). Principles of revitalization of peripheral urban areas. Innovative Project, 8(14), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.17673/ip.2023.8.14.4
Zukin, S. (2010). Naked city. The death and life of authentic urban places. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195382853.001.0001
Twitter
Facebook
