Desplazamiento subsidiario: efectos de gentrificación contemporánea en barrios céntricos en reconstrucción post-terremoto. El caso de Talca, Chile

Abstract

The phenomenon of gentrification including the displacement of social classes of workers has been widely studied in metropolitan cities, initially of the Anglo-Saxon world. However, fewer studies have focused on cities of intermediate scale and other latitudes affected by catastrophic natural events, such as earthquakes. The paper explores the process of reconstruction of the Northen Quarter of Talca, Chile, after the earthquake of February 27, 2010. An exploratory-descriptive approach is adopted that analyzes the types of housing subsidies delivered by the Chilean State and its effects in both the neighborhood morphology and the perception of its original and new residents. As a result, it is argued that the reconstruction of Talca has generated the displacement of low-income owners families, from this central area to new social housing units located in the periphery of the city, coined under the concept of subsidiary displacement. The paper reflects in the need of a deep revision of the state policy of reconstruction that, above all, protects the socio-spatial fabric of historic neighborhoods and avoids a process of gentrification.