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Call for Papers for open call N° 71, July 2026, semi-thematic
Global changes and their effects on the earth system: climate and the cryosphere
Deadline for paper submissions: April 15, 2026
Citizen Contestation and Neoliberal Urban Governance in Estación Central, Santiago de Chile
Authors
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Felipe Ibarra
Universidad de Chile
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8145-0143
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Abstract
This article examines the role of citizen contestation in neoliberal urban governance through a qualitative case study of Estación Central, Santiago de Chile. In a context characterized by intensive high-rise development and real estate-led urbanization, the study analyzes how civic organizations mobilize collective action repertoires to influence urban decision-making processes. The research combines documentary analysis, semi-structured interviews with public and social actors, and qualitative content analysis supported by Atlas.ti. The findings show that citizen contestation is not merely a reaction to the impacts of urban development, but a form of political incidence that introduces frictions within pro-growth urban regimes, activates institutional control mechanisms, and fosters practices of territorial reappropriation. The article concludes that urban governance operates as a conflictive process, in which conflict functions as a mechanism of partial and contingent democratization under neoliberal urbanization.
Keywords:
Citizen contestation , Estación Central , urban governance , urban neoliberalism , urban regimesReferences
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