"The Border: Territorial Inequality in the City of Valparaíso"

Abstract

This article examines territorial inequality in Valparaíso, Chile, focusing on how the city's urban structure reproduces longstanding socioeconomic disparities. The objective is to analyze how urban space reflects and consolidates exclusion dynamics through state action, symbolic boundaries, and normative frameworks, with a particular emphasis on heritage as an unequal resource. A qualitative and critical approach is employed, integrating historical, spatial, and political analysis of the city, using secondary sources, regulatory review, and empirical data on spatial distribution. The study argues that the widespread perception of Valparaíso as an integrated city masks deep territorial segmentation between the “patrimonial Valparaíso” —favored by public policies and cultural prestige— and the “forgotten Valparaíso” —excluded from planning and exposed to high levels of precariousness and risk. The research finds that rather than mitigating inequality, state intervention has often reinforced it through infrastructure projects and urban planning decisions that consolidate spatial borders. The article concludes by proposing to reimagine infrastructure as a means of integration, calling for a territorial justice agenda that dismantles socio-spatial boundaries and fosters a more equitable city.