Population development in Greater Santiago between 1970 and 1982

Analysis of census results on a district basis

Abstract

The rapid growth of the capital's population affected the different sectors of Greater Santiago in different ways. The notorious population decrease in the central sectors of the city has been counterbalanced by an extremely high growth in the number of inhabitants, especially in the periphery. In uptown areas, there has been a recent tendency to replace old family houses with apartment buildings. Thus, the construction boom of the early 1980s not only led to an expansion, but also to a partial structural change of preference in the residential neighborhoods. In contrast, the remaining urban areas represent a concrete manifestation of unresolved housing problems. Because the inhabitants of the slums are mostly young families still growing, there was a fairly high natural population increase. A comparatively high growth rate was also observed in some districts, which are analyzed in detail.