Neoliberal Urbanization and Synergistic Violence in Postearthquake Concepción

Abstract

The Chilean neoliberal state’s institutional strategy for displacing a historical population from Aurora de Chile, a centrally located area with real estate value in the city of Concepción, combined three types of violence: shock urbanization, which used the 2010 earthquake as an opportunity to impose the construction of major infrastructure, the construction of public opinion aimed at naturalizing displacement, and the strategic use of participation as a disciplinary socio-technical device to legitimize a solution to the conflict that guaranteed the building of the Bicentennial Bridge. The deployment of this synergistic, multifaceted violence was a sophisticated management technique associated with a neoliberal urban rationality that contributed to the process of urban renewal. La estrategia institucional del estado neoliberal chileno para desplazar a una población histórica de Aurora de Chile, un barrio céntrico con valor inmobiliario en la ciudad de Concepción, combinó tres tipos de violencia: la urbanización de choque, que utilizó el terremoto de 2010 como una oportunidad para imponer la construcción de infraestructura principal, la construcción de la opinión pública dirigida a naturalizar el desplazamiento, y el uso estratégico de la participación como un dispositivo socio-técnico disciplinario para legitimar una solución al conflicto que garantizó la construcción del Puente Bicentenario. El despliegue de esta violencia sinérgica y multifacética fue una técnica de gestión sofisticada asociada con una racionalidad urbana neoliberal que contribuyó al proceso de renovación urbana.

Development, urban planning and political decisions. A triad that built territories at risk

“…The research in Chile showed that cities are vulnerable to multi-hazards, evidencing the neoliberal urban development policies implemented, which has led to drastic changes in land use that follow free-market rules, and anthropizing the environment in response to the economic growth framework considering risk factors in the process (Matus et al 2019 ). In the GC, urban growth and city expansion over wetlands and riverbeds have increased risk exposure, transferring the poorest to peripheral areas, while increasing their vulnerability to extreme events (Rojas et al 2017 ; Napadensky and Orellana 2018 ).…”