Social integration in "border spaces": notes for a case study in Lo Barnechea, Santiago

Abstract

One of the most important consequences of segregation's geographical scale reduction in Santiago has been the multiplication o crossborder spaces, in which different socioeconomic groups meet. These spaces simultaneously conjugate modalities of both social exclusion and integration. The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationships established between different socioeconomic levels in the context o crossborder spaces, in order to clarify if social integration does exist or not, and to know the ways in which this is expressed. It is concluded that the proximity o higher income and status groups is associated to the establishment of a avorable opportunities' structure or the poorest ones, which means a ”functional" character social integration; nevertheless, the reversibility and sustainability of this relationship can be enabled on y by extra- functional e ements.