Region of contrasts, a region of mountains and seas. Curiously unequal, as Voltaire Alvarado expresses at the beginning of the conversation, the fourth interviewee in our podcast “15 minutes for the city.” And why curious inequality? Not viewed from economic, social, political, or cultural dimensions, but from the very surface of the region, the mountain territories, the intermediate zone with intermediate cities, and the coastal part, which is also divided between the urban metropolitan area and the province of Arauco, starting from Lota.

And our Gran Concepción has a new history, having two relatively new communes: San Pedro de la Paz and Hualpén. This has forced a rethinking of urban and segregation margins, both forced and induced. This dimension is, for Voltaire, clearly a condition of existence for Chilean cities, and notably in the capital of Biobío.

I have the impression that in the case of Gran Concepción, there is an important alternative to recovering what the city is. One very interesting thing is how nature is within the city or how it moves around it. How the people of Concepción and nature itself coexist. Asking people about their relationship with nature and what they feel nature demands of them is necessary.

Mauricio Castro, Director de Cultura Municipalidad de Concepción

We talked about participation and inequality in the city with Voltaire Alvarado.

PhD in Geography from the Catholic University, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the Universidad de Concepción, and Director of the Doctoral Program in Territorial Studies of the Global South. He declares himself a puentealtino at heart and a penquista by adoption.

His recent publications include: Of the proprietary machinery in the commodification of value: Marxist (and not so much) notes to explore the passages of housing in Chile; Cryosphere Mountain Landscapes in South America: Value and Protection; and Claiming Marine Coastal Spaces in the Chiloé Archipelago.