Urban strategies in vacant lands: transitory to permanent. From the island to the archipelago

Abstract

The definition of vacant land has been discussed in urban and architectural spheres, seen as remnants that belong to the urban fabric and at the same time, tangential to this dynamic, the development time in these urban voids –form and program–, can be undefined for its concretion. In turn, the vacant land –without use or construction–, usually is a space closed on its perimeter that coexists with the daily and constant mutation of the city, therefore it has been the subject of various interventions that aim to integrate them urbanly to the enjoyment of citizenship. The discussion will focus on interventions in vacant land from their permanent, ephemeral, and temporary nature in contrast to the current political projects of pocket parks in the city of Santiago de Chile. Finally, the role of the vacant land is understood as a public space opportunity in its multiscale affectation –local to metropolitan–, the possibilities to its implementation could reduce the inequality distribution of public spaces in consolidated cities.