The Metropolitan Region

The territorial context where the Metropolitan Plan is located is the group of provinces and communities that are located in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago. Its surface is approximately 15,660 square kilometers (2.13% of the country), of which about 85% correspond to mountainous areas and the other 15% to the valley of the Maipo River basin.

In this valley is located the most sophisticated agriculture that produces an important benefit for the country, and that has to compete with the city in the occupation of land of the highest agricultural quality for cultivation. The city has grown continuously to the detriment of the cultivation capacity of the land.

Furthermore, this territory has some peculiarities as a natural environment that limit the use of land for urban or rural activities. In reality, the character of flood zones due to the submergence of avenues of natural courses or elevations in the water table or areas prone to flooding or geological accidents, reduces or eliminates their suitability for urban development.

With this perspective, land that has no limitations is a scarce resource that must be managed prudently. To this end, some strategic lines have been established:

• - Establish the maximum limits of urban growth, determining what land can be developed; This requires the existence of regulations to protect agricultural land or to reduce the risks of a residential settlement.

• - Raise urban densities and limit the growth in size of cities.

• - Ensure equitable accessibility for the use of the territory and its opportunities.

• - Improve the living conditions of residents and, consequently, the conditions of the environment.

City

The image of an extensive, monocentric, congested, segregated, inefficient, and environmentally deteriorated city made it necessary to study and determine regulations relating to:

• - The extension, which is determining the limits.

• - The intensity of land occupation of the city.

• - The division by zones of urban activities, whether residential, services, productive, relationships or others.

• - The relationship with the countryside, the region and the most important sectors in the city.

In this way, the developable territory is reduced, allowing the soils to receive high population densities, alleviating the pressure of urbanization on those soils with a high agro-productive aptitude.

The plan offers many opportunities for the development of interconnected communal territories, offering a regulatory framework aimed at harmonizing development needs with the protection of public well-being. This has to be done with a global vision, focused on people and the optimization of resources, that makes the urban structure effective and functional and that always aims to achieve a progressive humanization of Metropolitan Santiago.

Construction of Roads and Transportation

This aspect is addressed by rationalizing the city's internal and external accessibility infrastructure, through regional, metropolitan and intercommunal road systems. These systems create and ensure a network of relationships that guarantee the free movement of people and goods.

In the same way, the Plan establishes the essential concepts that indicate the orientations of future developments. The main novelty in this aspect is the demand to take into account the viability of streets in urbanization and service projects and to consider other urban significance, with the purpose of maintaining and developing the capacity of infrastructure for roads, sidewalks and avenues.

Productive Activities

The determination of these areas also has a development objective since they are located not only with a functional criterion, but also tending to generate jobs in the periphery, near the areas where the workers live. By doing this, excess travel in terms of distance and time, transportation and other expenses is expected to be reduced.

The Plan also includes a policy for the recovery of soil used in extraction activities and, at the same time, promotes the use of arid soil that comes from natural river basins.

Metropolitan Services Subcenters

The excessive urban extension has caused deterioration processes, not only for the environment, but also for cultural and spiritual life; This process lacks positive elements to facilitate the identification of people and their communities. On the contrary, indiscriminate expansion has produced harmful characterizations of areas, neighborhoods, barrios and communes, which devalue land, displace investments and, this is perhaps the most serious aspect, creating negative archetypes about their inhabitants.

In this sense, the Plan proposes a system of seven strategic points called Metropolitan Services Subcenters aimed both at bringing together services and at forming a network of decentralization of services, bringing them closer to users.

Green Zones

The objective of the Metropolitan Plan is to constitute a system to improve the environmental quality of the city, taking into account recreational, cultural, aesthetic and hygiene spaces, but also through the creation of meeting spaces and urban landmarks that can generate strong elements of identification in the community.

Such a system takes into account parks, public squares, and sports centers for which conservation areas of the natural environment have been integrated and also those with surroundings of natural value.

Limitations to Urban Development

The Metropolitan Plan considers limitations on land use due to:

• - The risks to which people are exposed, which come from natural spaces (deluges, floods) or from human intervention (airports, dangerous facilities).

• - Protection of infrastructure (railway lines, high voltage cables, nuclear reactors).

• - Conservation of ecology (mountainous areas, water resources).

• - Strategy (to preserve agricultural land from expansionary attitudes).[2]​.

Metropolitan Regulatory Plan 2011

In 2008, the MINVU presented for processing and approval a project that modified the current PMRS, which was discussed in July 2010 in the Regional Council (CORE) of the time, which decided to reject it.

This initiative was processed for 3 and a half years, an opportunity where it went through different stages, including consultations with the municipalities and among the arguments given by the councilors who disapproved of the project, it was questioned that the PRMS guaranteed only 8 percent for social housing in the projects that would be built in the extension area, pointing out that the minimum should be 20%. They also explained that the expansion of the urban radius could favor large real estate projects and not necessarily benefit the construction of social housing "Social Housing (Chile)").[5]​.

With 17 votes in favor and eight against, after four years of debate, on March 30, 2011, the Regional Government approved the Metropolitan Regulatory Plan, which will allow Santiago to grow by 10,000 hectares.[3]​.

Of this total of new hectares, 60% are destined for housing and 25% for green areas, which means that the urban area, which today reaches 75,000 hectares, will be able to accommodate 1,600,000 inhabitants on these lands, who will be the ones that will increase the population of the capital in 20 more years.

The eight communes integrated in this project are Renca "Renca (Chile)"), Cerro Navia, La Pintana, Puente Alto, Quilicura, Pudahuel, Maipú "Maipú (Chile)") and San Bernardo "San Bernardo (Chile)") and according to the mayor of the Metropolitan Region at that time, Fernando Echeverría, the purpose of the instrument is to meet the demand for housing, roads, green areas and services that the city will have. future.

The most discussed points about the plan are in line with the demands that any real estate project requires to be installed in the territorial extension. Such are that 8% of the new land will be allocated to the construction of social housing "Social Housing (Chile)") and 25% for green areas.

Regarding the first point, the government stressed that this measure will benefit 200,000 families in the capital who still do not have their own home and who will be eligible for social housing.

On the other hand, experts point out that this measure does not solve the problem of the shortage of land for housing solutions, since "only 8% of the 10,000 hectares that are added will be destined for social housing, which is insufficient for the housing deficit."

Regarding the green areas, Minister Matte of the MINVU highlighted the increase in green areas that this project entails, since according to her statements "the difference in land that the eastern sector has with the southern sector is frankly shameful and we are going to change that."

However, other visions highlight that the new urbanizations will occupy spaces that today have agricultural crops, pastures, bushes; This vegetation cover will be replaced by roads and homes, thereby disappearing the environmental services provided by the vegetation, mainly rainwater infiltration and thermal regulation. This implies greater risks of flooding due to rainwater and increased urban temperatures.

The construction of green areas expires after five years, that is; If construction does not begin in five years, they will cease to be green areas and can be urbanized.[6]​.

• - Santiago Metropolitan Regulatory Plan 2008 (Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning).

• - Protagonists deliver the pros and cons of the RM Regulatory Plan (La Tercera, 03/31/2011) Archived August 29, 2011 at the Wayback Machine.

The Metropolitan Region

The territorial context where the Metropolitan Plan is located is the group of provinces and communities that are located in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago. Its surface is approximately 15,660 square kilometers (2.13% of the country), of which about 85% correspond to mountainous areas and the other 15% to the valley of the Maipo River basin.

In this valley is located the most sophisticated agriculture that produces an important benefit for the country, and that has to compete with the city in the occupation of land of the highest agricultural quality for cultivation. The city has grown continuously to the detriment of the cultivation capacity of the land.

Furthermore, this territory has some peculiarities as a natural environment that limit the use of land for urban or rural activities. In reality, the character of flood zones due to the submergence of avenues of natural courses or elevations in the water table or areas prone to flooding or geological accidents, reduces or eliminates their suitability for urban development.

With this perspective, land that has no limitations is a scarce resource that must be managed prudently. To this end, some strategic lines have been established:

• - Establish the maximum limits of urban growth, determining what land can be developed; This requires the existence of regulations to protect agricultural land or to reduce the risks of a residential settlement.

• - Raise urban densities and limit the growth in size of cities.

• - Ensure equitable accessibility for the use of the territory and its opportunities.

• - Improve the living conditions of residents and, consequently, the conditions of the environment.

City

The image of an extensive, monocentric, congested, segregated, inefficient, and environmentally deteriorated city made it necessary to study and determine regulations relating to:

• - The extension, which is determining the limits.

• - The intensity of land occupation of the city.

• - The division by zones of urban activities, whether residential, services, productive, relationships or others.

• - The relationship with the countryside, the region and the most important sectors in the city.

In this way, the developable territory is reduced, allowing the soils to receive high population densities, alleviating the pressure of urbanization on those soils with a high agro-productive aptitude.

The plan offers many opportunities for the development of interconnected communal territories, offering a regulatory framework aimed at harmonizing development needs with the protection of public well-being. This has to be done with a global vision, focused on people and the optimization of resources, that makes the urban structure effective and functional and that always aims to achieve a progressive humanization of Metropolitan Santiago.

Construction of Roads and Transportation

This aspect is addressed by rationalizing the city's internal and external accessibility infrastructure, through regional, metropolitan and intercommunal road systems. These systems create and ensure a network of relationships that guarantee the free movement of people and goods.

In the same way, the Plan establishes the essential concepts that indicate the orientations of future developments. The main novelty in this aspect is the demand to take into account the viability of streets in urbanization and service projects and to consider other urban significance, with the purpose of maintaining and developing the capacity of infrastructure for roads, sidewalks and avenues.

Productive Activities

The determination of these areas also has a development objective since they are located not only with a functional criterion, but also tending to generate jobs in the periphery, near the areas where the workers live. By doing this, excess travel in terms of distance and time, transportation and other expenses is expected to be reduced.

The Plan also includes a policy for the recovery of soil used in extraction activities and, at the same time, promotes the use of arid soil that comes from natural river basins.

Metropolitan Services Subcenters

The excessive urban extension has caused deterioration processes, not only for the environment, but also for cultural and spiritual life; This process lacks positive elements to facilitate the identification of people and their communities. On the contrary, indiscriminate expansion has produced harmful characterizations of areas, neighborhoods, barrios and communes, which devalue land, displace investments and, this is perhaps the most serious aspect, creating negative archetypes about their inhabitants.

In this sense, the Plan proposes a system of seven strategic points called Metropolitan Services Subcenters aimed both at bringing together services and at forming a network of decentralization of services, bringing them closer to users.

Green Zones

The objective of the Metropolitan Plan is to constitute a system to improve the environmental quality of the city, taking into account recreational, cultural, aesthetic and hygiene spaces, but also through the creation of meeting spaces and urban landmarks that can generate strong elements of identification in the community.

Such a system takes into account parks, public squares, and sports centers for which conservation areas of the natural environment have been integrated and also those with surroundings of natural value.

Limitations to Urban Development

The Metropolitan Plan considers limitations on land use due to:

• - The risks to which people are exposed, which come from natural spaces (deluges, floods) or from human intervention (airports, dangerous facilities).

• - Protection of infrastructure (railway lines, high voltage cables, nuclear reactors).

• - Conservation of ecology (mountainous areas, water resources).

• - Strategy (to preserve agricultural land from expansionary attitudes).[2]​.

Metropolitan Regulatory Plan 2011

In 2008, the MINVU presented for processing and approval a project that modified the current PMRS, which was discussed in July 2010 in the Regional Council (CORE) of the time, which decided to reject it.

This initiative was processed for 3 and a half years, an opportunity where it went through different stages, including consultations with the municipalities and among the arguments given by the councilors who disapproved of the project, it was questioned that the PRMS guaranteed only 8 percent for social housing in the projects that would be built in the extension area, pointing out that the minimum should be 20%. They also explained that the expansion of the urban radius could favor large real estate projects and not necessarily benefit the construction of social housing "Social Housing (Chile)").[5]​.

With 17 votes in favor and eight against, after four years of debate, on March 30, 2011, the Regional Government approved the Metropolitan Regulatory Plan, which will allow Santiago to grow by 10,000 hectares.[3]​.

Of this total of new hectares, 60% are destined for housing and 25% for green areas, which means that the urban area, which today reaches 75,000 hectares, will be able to accommodate 1,600,000 inhabitants on these lands, who will be the ones that will increase the population of the capital in 20 more years.

The eight communes integrated in this project are Renca "Renca (Chile)"), Cerro Navia, La Pintana, Puente Alto, Quilicura, Pudahuel, Maipú "Maipú (Chile)") and San Bernardo "San Bernardo (Chile)") and according to the mayor of the Metropolitan Region at that time, Fernando Echeverría, the purpose of the instrument is to meet the demand for housing, roads, green areas and services that the city will have. future.

The most discussed points about the plan are in line with the demands that any real estate project requires to be installed in the territorial extension. Such are that 8% of the new land will be allocated to the construction of social housing "Social Housing (Chile)") and 25% for green areas.

Regarding the first point, the government stressed that this measure will benefit 200,000 families in the capital who still do not have their own home and who will be eligible for social housing.

On the other hand, experts point out that this measure does not solve the problem of the shortage of land for housing solutions, since "only 8% of the 10,000 hectares that are added will be destined for social housing, which is insufficient for the housing deficit."

Regarding the green areas, Minister Matte of the MINVU highlighted the increase in green areas that this project entails, since according to her statements "the difference in land that the eastern sector has with the southern sector is frankly shameful and we are going to change that."

However, other visions highlight that the new urbanizations will occupy spaces that today have agricultural crops, pastures, bushes; This vegetation cover will be replaced by roads and homes, thereby disappearing the environmental services provided by the vegetation, mainly rainwater infiltration and thermal regulation. This implies greater risks of flooding due to rainwater and increased urban temperatures.

The construction of green areas expires after five years, that is; If construction does not begin in five years, they will cease to be green areas and can be urbanized.[6]​.

• - Santiago Metropolitan Regulatory Plan 2008 (Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning).

• - Protagonists deliver the pros and cons of the RM Regulatory Plan (La Tercera, 03/31/2011) Archived August 29, 2011 at the Wayback Machine.