2026 Theses Master's

Stigma, Social Class, and Santiago, Chile: An Analysis of Transit-Induced Gentrification

Miller, Ava Elise

Gentrification has been written about in the global north as a process of class invasion of space, leading to displacement and property value increases. Stigmatized areas receiving new transportation connections are vulnerable to transit-induced gentrification due to their low ground rent and developer rationale that the land is being used unproductively. Yet this process has not been significantly investigated in Santiago, Chile. Is transit-induced gentrification a phenomenon happening in Santiago?

This paper argues it is not, and that understanding why requires examining how Chile's deeply rooted class system, instated by the Spanish in the 16th century, still structures society today. In Santiago, social class is spatialized through territorial stigma, which functions as the most powerful determinant of the city's spatial logic. It dictates which areas receive investment and which do not. Any analysis of gentrification in Chile must therefore center social class and territorial stigma given their societal importance. While other factors, such as an area's aesthetic value or quality of infrastructure, may increase susceptibility to gentrification, these too are influenced by capital investments shaped by class and stigma. For this reason, connectivity alone is not a powerful enough force to catalyze transit-induced gentrification in Santiago.