¿Horario Valle o Punta? Movilidad cotidiana e imaginarios urbanos en Talca.

Abstract

Considering the profound changes that have affected the daily mobility in Talca during the last decade, this study looks at how individuals experience such changes from their daily travel practices and how these perceptions validate, signify and configure certain ways of understanding and imagining the city. Based on 25 interviews with people who travel on a daily basis through Talca, this study recognizes two coexisting urban imaginaries that have been identified as the “peak” and the “off -peak” city. While the former is associated with tranquility and predictability of a bounded city, the second results in tensions, uncertainties and anxieties, which have been traditionally associated with metropolitan space. Finally, we reflect on the paradoxes gained by the achievements of the “peak city” and the progressive differentiation of mobility experiences depending on the possibilities of access to certain goods and urban spaces.