A land expropriation machine: the first years of the Urban Improvement Corporation (CORMU) in Chile (1967-1970)

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dc.catalogadoraba
dc.contributor.authorDíaz Peñaloza, Francisco Javier
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-24T21:08:39Z
dc.date.available2025-07-24T21:08:39Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractBetween 1967 and 1970, the Corporaci & oacute;n del Mejoramiento Urbano (CORMU) established a strategy for land expropriation in which architecture played a crucial role. Created in 1966 by President Eduardo Frei-Montalva, it was a state agency with the attributes of a private corporation, with ample powers to develop urban renewal projects that vastly surpassed the mere provision of social housing. However, the fact that a developing country like Chile would spend its capital in expropriating urban land and that it would do so to undertake projects that would not address social issues, seems counterintuitive. This peculiar case can be explained if we consider the corporative ethos of Chilean politics since the 1930s and Frei-Montalva's political power. The paper analyses the trajectories of corporatism and Christian Democracy in Chile in the mid-twentieth century, explaining the institutional framework, surrounding the CORMU and describing the mechanism the corporation mobilized to expropriate urban land. Relying on archival documentation and interviews, this text unveils the unexamined relationship between legal tools (the framework) and architectural design (the mechanism) that enabled the CORMU's well-oiled land expropriation machine. Finally, the paper analyses the San Borja Remodelling, the urban scheme where the CORMU's machine found its biggest materialization.
dc.format.extent26 páginas
dc.fuente.origenWOS
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/02665433.2025.2516598
dc.identifier.eissn1466-4518
dc.identifier.issn0266-5433
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2025.2516598
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorio.uc.cl/handle/11534/105027
dc.identifier.wosidWOS:001511999600001
dc.information.autorucEscuela de Arquitectura; Díaz Peñaloza, Francisco Javier; S/I; 18508
dc.language.isoen
dc.nota.accesocontenido parcial
dc.revistaPlanning Perspectives
dc.rightsacceso restringido
dc.subjectHousing
dc.subjectState
dc.subjectCorporatism
dc.subjectUrban renewal
dc.subjectChile
dc.subjectLand expropriation
dc.subjectSan Borja
dc.subjectChristian Democracy
dc.subject.ddc710
dc.subject.deweyArquitecturaes_ES
dc.subject.ods10 Reduced inequalities
dc.subject.ods11 Sustainable cities and communities
dc.subject.ods16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
dc.subject.odspa10 Reducción de las desigualdades
dc.subject.odspa11 Ciudades y comunidades sostenibles
dc.subject.odspa16 Paz, justicia e instituciones sólidas
dc.titleA land expropriation machine: the first years of the Urban Improvement Corporation (CORMU) in Chile (1967-1970)
dc.typeartículo
sipa.codpersvinculados18508
sipa.trazabilidadWOS;2025-06-28
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