The objective of this research is to understand and shed light on the relationship between social integration and environmental sustainability and to evaluate and determine the specific types of association and promotion in two key social integration housing projects in Chile. These projects are: Villa las Araucarias in La Serena, IV Region and Casas Viejas in Santiago, Metropolitan Region (2008 and 2009, respectively). These initiatives are some of the earliest social integration housing projects built in Chile, which, due to their relative age, territorial location and number of dwellings (968 units in total), represent emblematic projects whose foundation reveals a significant change in the conception of housing and social integration in Chile.

 

In spite of the growing interest and commitment reflected in the public policies for housing and urban development implemented over the last two decades, the environmental approach based on tangible realities, along with the generation of indicators that allow the evaluation of housing projects, is an area that has not been properly developed.

 

The conceptual framework of this proposal is supported by theoretical research based on the existence of an intrinsic relationship between social and environmental sustainability. Likewise, it has been said that social integration is beneficial in terms of social sustainability as it involves greater social participation, diversity, cohesion and a decrease in inequality. Concurrently, these very features contribute to the promotion, facilitation and generation of proper spaces for environmental sustainability practices. The search for tangible evidence of such a relationship within social housing projects is a key and innovative aspect of this research proposal.

 

As for specific objectives, this research project proposes three main lines. The first is related to the identification, characterization and analysis of tangible expressions to further generate and value environmental improvements. The second seeks to understand how these environmental improvements relate to and support each other within social integration processes. The third objective aims to explore the development of indicators to report on human-induced environmental changes.

 

This proposal aims to contribute to research already conducted by different study centers and governmental offices and extend the scope of some of these studies from the housing scale, commonly addressed from a technical perspective, to the neighborhood scale, through the use of an integral environmental perspective that encompasses social and ecological issues.

 

Different mixed methods such as qualitative, quantitative and descriptive analyses, including eco-social surveys, interviews with key informants and field observations supported by data from primary sources (statistics and census) will be used during this research. In addition, this proposal includes collaboration with two international institutions, the University of New South Wales, City Futures (UNSW) and ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), both with extensive knowledge and experience in the field of social housing and social integration, sustainability and environmental sustainability indicators. 

 

The results of this research are expected to clarify and contribute knowledge on the environmental effects of social integration housing and provide methods and indicators intended to evaluate, inform and be applicable to future housing projects.