Viña del Mar
Methodologies for the design of Triggering Urban Route Projects (PRUD)
DURATION: Ongoing since 2023
POPULATION: Viña del Mar: 371,490 (Growth rate 0.59%) Metropolitan Area: 930,220
TOPICS: URBAN REGENERATION, INFRASTRUCTURE, NEIGHBORHOODS, TRANSFORMATION, RESILIENCE
URA SCOPE: ECONOMY Urban Prosperity Beyond GDP, STRATEGY. Shared Vision
MAIN ACTORS:Viña del Mar University, El Salto Corporation, V21 Innovation District, Municipality of Viña del Mar
Every year, a group of architecture students from Viña del Mar University embarks on a journey across European cities, immersing themselves in real-world case studies of urban regeneration. Under the «Taller Europa» workshop, they sketch, analyse, and document the transformation of urban spaces, seeking to understand how these projects take shape through a city’s unique model and lived experience. The goal is not just to observe but to extract valuable lessons, bringing them back to Chile to inspire local projects in the Valparaíso region.
This initiative, officially known as «WORKSHOP EUROPA: Methodologies for the Design of Triggering Urban Route Projects (PRUD) as an Urban Regeneration Strategy for Neighbourhoods of Viña del Mar,» serves as a bridge between European urban renewal experiences and their potential application in Chile. The selected cities—Bilbao, Barcelona, Lyon, and Paris—offer diverse perspectives on urban design, and their successes and challenges provide critical insights for shaping the future of Viña del Mar.
At its core, this project is an academic methodology designed to influence the conversation about urban development while providing hands-on training for final-year architecture students. It also fosters collaboration among key stakeholders, including public institutions, private entities, and community representatives, all of whom play a crucial role in shaping the built environment.
Currently, this approach is being tested in the industrial neighbourhood of El Salto in Viña del Mar, an area undergoing transformation led by private sector initiatives. Here, a «quadruple helix» strategy brings together academia, business, local government, and civil society to shape the neighbourhood’s future. The workshop’s findings—gathered through direct observation and a structured methodology in European cities—help decode the principles behind successful urban regeneration. By correlating perceived spatial quality with documented urban policies and design strategies, the workshop unveils the underlying logic that guides these transformations.
More than an academic exercise, this project fosters a collaborative network, breaking down barriers to knowledge transfer. It ensures that lessons from international case studies are not confined to distant lecture halls but actively inform the evolution of Viña del Mar’s historic neighbourhoods, shaping a city that learns from the past while looking toward the future.
Challenge & Context
Viña del Mar and its metropolitan area face significant urban challenges that demand strategic planning and sustainable solutions. The city’s rapid growth has led to pressures on infrastructure, housing, and public services, while the preservation of its historical and touristic identity remains a critical concern. Many neighbourhoods reflect a stark contrast between well-established residential areas and sectors suffering from urban decay.
The El Salto neighbourhood exemplifies these difficulties. Once an industrial hub, it now requires significant regeneration efforts to address deteriorating infrastructure, environmental concerns, and the need for better connectivity. The challenge lies in transforming this area into a functional and integrated urban space while maintaining a balance between economic development and community well-being.
More broadly, Viña del Mar’s metropolitan area must contend with issues of mobility, environmental sustainability, and resilience in the face of climate change. Traffic congestion, limited green spaces, and vulnerabilities to natural disasters, such as coastal erosion and flooding, further complicate urban planning. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach that considers social, economic, and environmental factors to ensure a sustainable and inclusive future for the city and its inhabitants.
Solution Proposed
The Taller Europa project aims to establish an international exchange network focused on strategic urban thinking and its practical implementation in local territories. This initiative addresses urban regeneration, sustainability, and quality of life improvement in degraded urban contexts.
A key aspect of the project involves applying knowledge from European urban regeneration strategies of the past two decades to the Chilean context. By intersecting Chilean urban development policies with these strategies, the project facilitates the evaluation of established initiatives, assessing their execution, urban experience, and management effectiveness.
Additionally, the project contributes to fostering public and private collaboration between the Municipality of Viña del Mar and the El Salto Corporation. Through the V21 Innovation District, which serves as the coordinating entity within the neighbourhood, a structured framework for multi-sectoral engagement is reinforced under the quadruple helix model.
Another objective is to equip final-year architecture students at Viña del Mar University with a forward-thinking and innovative approach. By integrating global urban challenges into their education, the project prepares future architects to develop advanced, context-responsive solutions for Chilean cities.
Impact
The application of the project in the El Salto neighbourhood has yielded tangible results since 2023, demonstrating the impact of collaborative urban regeneration efforts. The established cooperation agreements highlight significant advancements:
The partnership between Taller Europa and El Barrio El Salto has facilitated participatory urban design processes, applying a quadruple helix strategy. This collaboration, involving the University, Corporación El Salto, and Innovation District V21, has resulted in five urban design proposals for the evolving neighbourhood. (2023-2024)
Engagement with URBE ARQUITECTOS, the firm responsible for the Master Plan of El Salto, has enabled the integration of academic insights into large-scale urban planning. (2023-2024)
Technical advice provided by Taller Europa to the Planning Secretariat (SECPLA) of the Viña del Mar Municipality and Innovation District V21 has contributed to refining urban regeneration methodologies based on European case studies. (January 2024)
The initiative has supported the finalization of a collaboration agreement between the Municipality and the V21 Innovation District, strengthening institutional partnerships. (2024)
The Mayor of Viña del Mar recognized the contributions of Taller Europa to urban innovation during the anniversary ceremony of the V21 Innovation District. (June 2024)
An international collaboration network has been established with experts from Bilbao, Barcelona, and Lyon, supported by a Ministry of Education-funded internship for academic internationalization. (November 2023)
The research and methodology of Taller Europa have been validated by researchers from the École Nationale Supérieure D’Architecture of Lyon, reinforcing the academic credibility of the project. (May 2024)
Knowledge dissemination has been enhanced through specialized conferences, fostering dialogue on urban regeneration strategies.
These results underscore the project’s role in bridging academic research and practical urban transformation, contributing to a more informed and participatory approach to urban development in Viña del Mar.
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