The architecture of differentiation and subjectivities in Chilean social mix housing

Source abstract

Housing policies that promote social mix seek to address the problems associated with residential segregation in cities by creating spatial proximity between different socioeconomic groups. Particularly in the Global South, academic discussion has paid little attention to how the built environment of mixed housing developments materially organises difference and shapes the subjectivities of its inhabitants. This article examines mixed housing policy in Chile, arguing that its normative, architectural and urban design reproduces neoliberal forms of differentiation and hierarchy. We conduct a spatial and qualitative study of seven social mix neighbourhoods in the suburbs of two intermediate cities. Results show that these residential spaces are regulated and constructed according to criteria of architectural, urban and material differentiation. These criteria shape the subjectivities and interactions of their residents, who form dynamics of distinction and hierarchy based on values such as debt, competition and merit. This, in turn, fosters practices of selective segregation, perceptions of the ‘enemy within’, withdrawal to private spheres, and the installation of surveillance devices. The findings demonstrate how mixed housing can reproduce inequality through the built environment, even when it is proposed as a strategy to promote integration, as is increasingly common in the countries of the Global South.