THE ARCHITECTURE OF DENSITY
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Date
2017
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Volume Title
Publisher
UNIV DIEGO PORTALES
Abstract
The need for more dense and vital cities has been promoted by academia since the 1960s and by international organizations since the 1980s. On the other hand, the last census showed that the district of Santiago started gaining population, a process not seen since 1970, while peri-central districts exhibit high real-estate dynamism. In spite of this, the densification of residential areas is increasingly resisted by traditional residents, for whom the high-rise tower, the typical way to densify cities in Chile, is a detriment in their quality of life.
The present work provides an alternative model to the traditional form of contemporary residential densification in Santiago, one that promotes higher degrees of urban vitality and a closer relation between private and public space. An exhaustive compilation and analysis of what was built in the last ten years in a sector of San Miguel, in Santiago, allowed us to identify the main trends of real estate development in the area in terms of building height, type and size of flats and ways of relating to the street. This allowed us to build a 'trend scenario'for the area. At the same time, an 'alternative scenario' was proposed for the area, one with a closer contact between the building and the street, decreased average heights and a densified interior of the blocks. This scenario punished the constructability of the area by 18%. The alternatives were shown and discussed with applicants to programs DS 49 and DS 50, in two focus groups.
The results show that approximately half of the applicants preferred the alternative scenario over the trend-based one, arguing that the former gave a better control on the street. It seems therefore, that innovation in urban architecture is feasible technically and politically. We argue that in order to do so, urban instruments should incorporate a more comprehensive vision of the city, not only aiming at achieving certain density thresholds and heights, but also incorporating aspects that promote street vitality. Also, the feasibility of applying some incentives to private developers for the development of architectural proposals is discussed.
The present work provides an alternative model to the traditional form of contemporary residential densification in Santiago, one that promotes higher degrees of urban vitality and a closer relation between private and public space. An exhaustive compilation and analysis of what was built in the last ten years in a sector of San Miguel, in Santiago, allowed us to identify the main trends of real estate development in the area in terms of building height, type and size of flats and ways of relating to the street. This allowed us to build a 'trend scenario'for the area. At the same time, an 'alternative scenario' was proposed for the area, one with a closer contact between the building and the street, decreased average heights and a densified interior of the blocks. This scenario punished the constructability of the area by 18%. The alternatives were shown and discussed with applicants to programs DS 49 and DS 50, in two focus groups.
The results show that approximately half of the applicants preferred the alternative scenario over the trend-based one, arguing that the former gave a better control on the street. It seems therefore, that innovation in urban architecture is feasible technically and politically. We argue that in order to do so, urban instruments should incorporate a more comprehensive vision of the city, not only aiming at achieving certain density thresholds and heights, but also incorporating aspects that promote street vitality. Also, the feasibility of applying some incentives to private developers for the development of architectural proposals is discussed.
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Keywords
densification, San Miguel, urban vitality