The Transformation of Chacabuco Village: From the Pre-Columbian to the Metropolitan Periphery of Santiago, Chile.

Abstract

The process of transformation of the Province of Chacabuco throughout its history according to historical, cartographic and testimonial background, constitutes the central objective in this writing. The facts that describe the process of territorial occupation and the different forms it has taken over time identifying five settlement impulses that are related to the structures that were formed in the territory, with the objective of understanding in detail the occupation of the territory and explaining the causes that impulse it. Since the 17th century, the territory of Chacabuco had scattered human settlements and a countryside organized under the hacienda system for agricultural and livestock use, with a small population around the houses, which after the appearance of the Santiago- Valparaíso railroad generated an agglomeration of dwellings around the stations. From the seventeenth century until the first half of the twentieth century, the territory lacked housing and was mainly devoted to livestock, agriculture or remained unused. However, in the second half of the 20th century, the settlement had an explosive development, linked to urban expansion processes of the city of Santiago, the main metropolis of the country.