Methods of data collection and analysis

This section explains in detail the different methods used for this research. As has been explained, the core of this research is the analysis of two neighbourhoods that have been impacted by two different programmes, and the study of the territory on a wider urban scale, using two other cases seen initially as background. Each neighbourhood is analysed in terms of the impacts of the programmes on reducing inequalities. Following the discussion about the position of this research as being concerned with the process of balancing knowledge by value-rationality, the main focus has been on looking for different voices to understand the power and spatial dynamics behind each of the programmes in the territory, and the way in which lived inequalities are displayed in the territory in everyday life. This focus serves to bring to light the economic, social and political logics that housing policies are triggering.

The first phase of the work focused on literature revision and theoretical discussion, followed by a revision of secondary sources for the study of the historical context of both the policies researched. The empirical work of the research was conducted during two fieldwork studies in Santiago, one between November 2014 and January 2015, and the other between May and June 2015. Both studies combined quantitative and qualitative methods for collecting data.

The fieldwork in the city of Santiago consisted mainly in a combination of four kinds of activities: firstly, site visits to BdM, where interviews, mapping and participatory

observations were conducted; secondly, meetings with different authorities and

professionals from public and academic institutions, both at the local and national level;

thirdly, attendance to official activities related to the programmes in BdM, conducted both in the territory and in other public buildings; and finally, the collection of secondary data from public institutions and from the GIS archives of the Centro de Inteligencia Territorial, from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez².

2 In the context of this research, an agreement was signed with the Centro de Inteligencia Territorial, from the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez to access their GIS archives for academic proposes.

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a. Setting the context

An initial series of activities was conducted to set the context at the territory and institutional level. Three kinds of activities were developed for this purpose:

1. Revision of historical literature and official documents;

2. Secondary data on physical, economic and social conditions of the area;

3. Interviews:

a. with authorities and academics about housing policies in Chile;

b. with authorities and policy makers about Second Opportunity;

c. with authorities and policy makers about DS49;

d. with authorities and policy makers about PQMB;

e. with authorities and policy makers about the Integral Plan;

f. with local authorities;

g. with practitioners working in the territory.

b. Case studies and background cases

For the empirical research, the approach was to use the theoretical lenses described in Chapter 2 as the entry points of analysis, as summarised in general terms in Figure 3.5.

Figure 3.5 | Lenses of analysis and general methods

Source: Author Secondary data: Analysis of Market Prices Secondary data: Analysis of Public investment Interviews with authorities and practitioners Interviews with community leaders

Walks and storytelling with neighbourhood dwellers

Secondary data: Analysis of location and services Secondary data: Analysis of housing design

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The various methods referred to in Figure 3.5 can be summarised as follows:

Interviews with authorities and practitioners: In order to understand the dynamics of the programmes, the decision making behind the programmes’ design and implementation, the evaluation by the authorities of the programmes’ execution, and the main

achievements, challenges and obstacles they observed, a series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with authorities, with policy makers, and with professionals and practitioners working directly in the programmes and the territory. Some authorities and practitioners were interviewed more than once (in 2014 and in 2015) in order to follow up their observations and concerns. Some interviews were conducted in government offices (Ministries, Metropolitan departments, the Municipality) while others took place in a community centre in BdM. All of the interviewees were formally informed of the aim of the interviews. In terms of anonymity, official authorities are identified by their names and/or in terms of their formal position in government, while practitioners and professionals are kept anonymous and just identified by the

programme, department or institution with which they work.

Interviews with community leaders: Semi-structured interviews with community leaders were at the core of the empirical research, and provided most of the information for the different lenses proposed. These interviews were used to enquire about the dynamics of the programmes, as well as to understand in detail the history of their local

implementation, combining appreciations of the personal stories of the interviewees with how they relate to the wider processes of change linked to the programmes’

implementation. These interviews also provided a gateway to understand the dynamics of the neighbourhood, everyday life and lived inequality, and to establish contact with other neighbourhood dwellers. Given the delicate situation in the neighbourhoods in terms of violence and distrust, this was a particularly key point. Some of the interviews were conducted in community centres, while others took place in the houses of the community leaders, some lasting for several hours. All the interviewees were formally informed of the aim of the interviews. All of them are kept anonymous for the purpose of this research, and just identified on the basis of their gender and neighbourhood in which they live.

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Walks and storytelling with neighbourhood dwellers: Conversations with neighbours were an important source of information, conducted informally in exchanges and storytelling during walks in the neighbourhoods. These conversations promoted understanding of the specific and personal dynamics related to the implementation of the programmes.

The walks were always accompanied by one of the community leaders or government professionals working in the area. All of the interviewees were formally informed of the aim of the interviews. All of them are kept anonymous for the purpose of this research, and just identified by their gender and the neighbourhood in which they live.

Participatory observation of community meetings and events: During the fieldwork a series of events and community meetings took place. Assisting and participating in those meetings provided an important insight into the dynamics of the programmes, the way they were perceived and the consequences they had for the territory. These events included, for example: municipal meetings with communities; information meetings regarding the housing delivery process; official participatory workshops in BdM;

attendance to demolitions and the process of vacating buildings; attendance to the formal handing over of keys and occupation of new houses.

Secondary data: Analysis of market prices, public investment, housing design, location and services: An important part of the fieldwork was having direct access to secondary data, from the government, the municipality and academic institutions. This secondary data included general information about the territory and its socioeconomic profile, and more importantly, specific information about the programmes researched including: financial information about the subsidies provided, e.g. details about numbers, address, purpose, etc.; official information about the legal documents and regulation of the programmes;

official and internal documents about the programmes; physical layout and design of projects developed under the programmes; information collected by the programmes in the territory during an internal census; land and real estate values of houses as stated in local media. All the information providers were formally informed that the information was being collected for academic purposes.

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A total of 24 interviews were conducted with authorities and practitioners, 18 long interviews with community leaders, and 12 participatory observations of events such as official community meetings or government workshops. In addition, walks and informal conversation took place constantly during the fieldwork periods. The specific use of each of these data collection tools for each of the programmes is summarised in Figure 3.6. In addition to the economic, social, and political lenses, there is a transversal lens related to space that is used as a general approach to understand each of the cases.

Figure 3.6 | Methods of data collection for each case

Source: Author

2 | Second Opportunity | Francisco Coloane and Cerro Morado 1 | DS49 | Jesús de Nazaret

POLITICAL [power]

SOCIAL [services/rights]

- Analysis of market prices of houses;

- Analysis of subsidies and public investment;

- Analysis of old and new locations;

- Analysis of housing design; and events relating to handover of houses.

SPACE LENS: Physical Mapping, photographies, walks.

PQMB

- Analysis of investment and interventions in the area;

- Interviews with authorities and programme practitioners, from the MINVU, SEREMI, and the municipality.

- Analysis of investment and interventions in the area;

- Interviews with authorities and programme practitioners, from the SERVIU and the Integral Plan Office.

- Participatory observation in official participatory workshops.

INTEGRAL PLAN BdM - Analysis of market prices of

houses in the area;

- Analysis of subsidies and public investment;

- Analysis of old and new locations;

- Analysis of urban design of interventions;

SPACE LENS: Physical Mapping, photographies, walks.

POLITICAL [power]

SOCIAL [services/rights]

ECONOMIC [resources]

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c. Data analysis methodology

Chapters 4 and 5 of this dissertation present the analysis of the historical, institutional and territorial context. The next three chapters present analysis of the empirical data collected by the methods described above, Chapter 6 focusing on the implementation of the programmes, Chapter 7 on their impact, and Chapter 8 on the background cases.

This methodological discussion finishes by briefly introducing the ways in which the data collected is analysed in these three chapters.

The main purpose of these chapters is to use the evidence collected to address the questions that form the basis of this research, and to build a body of knowledge to

explore the arguments proposed. In that sense, there has been a constant effort to be clear about the triangular relationship between the questions, the argument, and the methods used, linking the last directly with the theoretical lenses. While Chapter 6 presents the information for each of the two cases separately, Chapter 7 is structured on the basis of the topics or theoretical lenses proposed. For each topic (economic, social and political inequalities), the evidence is analysed in such a way as to find out relevant issues,

addressing issues of segregation, violence and marginality, among others. Through these issues, it seeks to understand the effects of housing programmes in BdM, and the reflection goes beyond the specificities of the territory, thus contributing to the discussion at national and regional levels.

The analysis of the data seeks to address the questions and sub-questions, and in sum to understand both the main obstacles and the successful elements of these policies, as well as the main challenges of housing policies in reducing multiple inequalities. The

common elements identified are used as the lens to study the urban cases in Chapter 8, as summarised in Figure 3.7.

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Source: Author

Final comments

This research focuses on studying a spectrum of interventions in a limited territory, examining to what extent they are conducive to reducing quantitative and qualitative inequalities. The analysis attempts to explore the main argument of this research: that those interventions that are more complex and multiple in their approach to housing have more impact in improving redistribution and qualitative inequalities, which are necessary to sustain and deepen redistribution processes. To do so, this research uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, as has been examined in this chapter.

As has been discussed, the normative position of this work presents by itself a theoretical and political hypothesis; this implies that the research has aimed to observe a series of phenomena to identify if something that we define as desirable is taking place. Rather than going to the field to prove or demonstrate a fixed hypothesis, the methodological approach set the tools to interrogate a territory and a series of policies, to understand the cracks in which housing policies are or could be instruments for the reduction of

inequalities. In that sense, it is the purpose of this research to approach value-rational questions, placing power dynamics and political and spatial dynamics at the centre of the housing question. The methods selected have focused on understanding different voices in the process, giving account of such an approach.

Chapter 8

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Setting the Context: Inequalities and Housing Policies in Chile

Introduction

This chapter describes the institutional and historical context in which this research took place. In so doing, it seeks to offer some reflections on why it is relevant and pertinent to research the relationship between housing policies and inequalities in the current Chilean context, reflecting on the one hand on inequality trends, and on the other on the

trajectories of housing policies and their approaches to urban equality.

A first reason to focus on inequality in Chile relates to the fact that, as will be discussed, inequality indices in Chile are one of the highest in the region, representing one of the main national shortcomings, not just in terms of income redistribution, but also in relation to social, cultural and political disparities. Over the last few years, however, and after decades of consolidation of inequalities, there have been some reductions in income maldistribution. This opens important challenges for reducing qualitative inequalities, and particularly for increasing the redistributive impact of state action, which remains very low by international standards (Joumard et al., 2012).

The second reason relates to the trajectory of housing policies. For the last three decades, housing policies in Chile have focused mainly on creating a solid finance system for reducing quantitative deficit, overlooking aspects of city production, location, quality of housing, strengthening social organisation and so on. However, over the last decade, particularly since the 2006 National Housing Policy reform, there have been attempts to tackle qualitative deficits and urban inequalities. A series of programmes looking at aspects of quality, public space, participation, and location was launched. At least in their narratives, these programmes seek to take care of urban inequality issues at different

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levels. In a context where the ideas of urban equality and integration have become mainstream in the official narrative, exploring the extent to which these programmes are actually reducing inequalities from the multiple perspectives proposed becomes relevant.

There is a third reason why studying the intersection between inequality and housing policies in Chile is pertinent. Both in terms of macroeconomic management and in relation to housing policies, the Chilean model has been seen as a successful approach given its quantitative achievements, particularly for the Latin American region. So it is very important to explore with rigour the relationship between Chilean housing policies and urban inequality, placing them in a wider context, and enriching and contributing to the regional discussion about housing production.

This chapter discusses these issues by setting the institutional and historical context, and it is organised in two main sections: one about inequalities in Chile and the role of the state; and the other about the history of housing policies. For both topics, there is an emphasis on understanding why the current context is pertinent for this study.