Live in a sacrifice zone: A multi-scale analysis of Puchuncavi community

Abstract

This article presents the impacts that the development of the Ventanas Industrial Complex (VIC) has had on the community of Puchuncaví by understanding them as the origin and cause of the socioenvironmental crisis of the Sacrifice Zone. Based on references such as Lefebvre (2013) and Augé (1993) and their approaches on the co-production of space and non-place, a multi-scale analysis is carried out seeking to lay the foundations for the discussion and argumentation of community-based planning and experiences. Consecutively, a methodology consisting of a participatory workshop with members of the community is proposed which aims to identify, recognise and characterise the inhabit of this area while also the impacts that the industrial development has had on the territory. The conclusions reveal that the current Regional Planning Regulations perpetuate the development of the Sacrifice Zone which negatively impacts the local identity of the residents of Puchuncaví, being validated by the community. Finally, the article opens the discussion about the need for new rationales that imply the (re)valorisation - and its consequent (re)appropriation - of the territory as catalytic logics of divergent productive proposals to the current one materialised in the VIC.