La segmentación socioeconómica del espacio: La comunidad ecológica y la toma de Peñalolén

During 2003, an urban conflict was generated between the members of an ecological community and the inhabitants of a land seizure settlement in the municipality of Peñalolen. This conflict resuscitated the debate over urban segregation and the desire for integration of diverse social and cultural groups in the city. We present the results of a qualitative and descriptive study which had the objectives of recognizing the contradictory aspects of socioeconomic segmentation represented in the opinions of chileans in relation to the conflict, also to analyze the basic arguments of the inhabitants of the ecological community in rejecting the use of sites bordering on the community by these new settlers. The results confirm assumptions about the use of urban as as a mechanism for utility maximization and a strategy of differentiation. Also important is the motivation and search for identity in the choice of place in which to settle.