The city of Santiago, founded on February 12, 1541. More than 350 of these are story that takes place within the territory of the commune; and the last 95 have basically been residential expansion, functionally referred to their Center. The history of the commune is the city's history.
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| La Fundación de Santiago, Pedro Lira |
The functional city in the 16th century already geographically defined what is today the heart of the metropolis and the country; Santa Lucia is situated at the foot of cerro between defined natural limits, Mapocho River and Glen, with its political, administrative and social centre in the Plaza de Armas. This core grows an orderly to the West, in a scheme that suits your needs for three centuries.
The Constitution of the Republic of 1810, to nominate Santiago as its Capital and center of political and administrative - functions along with its economic boom - undergo it a process of rapid growth that goes beyond its limits of river, Hill and ravine. These are no longer "city limits" to become "Edges of Center", defining first a preferably residential periphery, and a centre of increasing density and functional complexity.
Its core, concentrated increasingly stronger, administrative, political, cultural and transportation authorities. With the construction of important additional nodes: National Library, Museum of fine arts, Congress, Estación Mapocho, expands its territory over the Plaza de Armas.
Moving forward in the century, creating large recreational complex at the edges, which claim a centrality to the total territory of the city, notion that defines the nature of the municipality of Santiago until today. This illustrated city of end of the century, increasingly complex and socially diverse, had 250 thousand inhabitants.
The city of 20th century of characterized by an enormous population growth, which along with the development of transportation and industrialization, they accuse growth unprecedented in the city of Santiago. In this century the city jumps the boundaries created by the railway and large parks, but without integrating them as mediators, marking a discontinuity between the new periphery and the city of the 19th century.
The commune of Santiago and this new periphery are still a unit, which reinforces the central role of the commune and the Center: people live in the periphery, but works, decisions are made, is negotiated, is studied, is purchased and is recreated in the Centre.
The central core is multiplied the commercial activity, business, services and equipment to serve the growing population. Transportation routes linking the commune and periphery are developed as commercial corridors and services that define the mixed character of their neighborhoods.
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| Ciudad empresarial, Huechuraba |
In recent decades, further alleged, a process of gradual stratification: a "Center" of maximum concentration of activity, as opposed to the process of deterioration of neighborhoods which assume progressively uses of support and services for the activities of the Centre.
