Highways, citizenship and democracy: Costanera Norte and Acceso Sur, Santiago, Chile (1997-2007)

Abstract

After forty years of car-centered planning, developed countries have generated a convincing body of evidence that reveals the extensive impacts of citizen movements against highways, in terms of both urban and planning systems. More recently, we have seen these models expand worldwide, turning auto mobility into the dominant planning paradigm, despite majority modal shares for walking, cycling and public transit. In this study, we compare two such anti-highway revolts in metropolitan Santiago, Chile. We find citizens determined to defend their democratic rights, associated with the emergence of a new urbanism. At the same time, instead of guaranteeing equality and citizen rights, particularly to those most vulnerable, the government takes advantage of some communities, imposing investments that far from improving their integration, actually reduces it, sometimes dramatically.