On Monday January 4th we launched the Streetscape Territories workshop, organized by the Universidad de Concepción, the Pontífica Universidad Católica de Chile and CEDEUS to explore future development scenarios for the Bellavista neighborhood in Tomé. Fifteen participants of both universities, joined by researchers of various academic and professional institutions will work together during this week to analyze, discuss and propose the existing and future development of this neighborhood. The hypothesis of this workshop is that by starting from the area’s streetscapes and their challenges and opportunities, we can come up with alternative readings and proposals for  Bellavista, building further on the previous research projects and discussions. The present variety of streetscapes and their appropriation are studied and used to project a sustainable future for this neighborhood. The approach is thematic, more than instrumental: during the workshop the discussions with local stakeholders and inhabitants is based on spatial qualities that relate to an immediate perception of the urban landscape, more than working with traditional urbanistic parameters as density, zoning, programming etc.

The following topics are tackled in different working groups:

Accessibility: how can we access the neighborhood and tis different urban clusters? how is access to the main facilities? how is access to the river or beach? how is access to the manufacturing cluster? how accessible are the collective spaces?

Permeability: what are the present sequences when moving through the neighborhood? can we define the depth models for the different areas? are there interesting or missing visual links? how deep is the overall urban fabric?

Proximity: can we describe the sets of absolute and relative distances that define the daily movements of the inhabitants and users? how do buildings, facilities, natural resources etc relate to each other in absolute or relative distances?

Productivity: can we detect the activities and conditions that define the productive model for this neighborhood? how can the inhabitants make a living in this neighborhood? where do they work? can they set up a business? what is the level of productivity of the manufacturing cluster? how productive is tourism for the local neighborhood? how does productivity relate to the seasons? how productive is the local heritage?

Mobility: how do inhabitants or users move within the area? how does public or private transport work? how many displacements occur daily? are there moments of collapse?

During the next days, the group will try to answer these multiple questions, always starting from the streetscape, that is the urban collective space that produces social encounter and activity for its inhabitants.
To be continued.

Greetings from Tomé,

Maria, Jeanette, Alejandro, Emma, Rodrigo, Pedro, Antonia, Valeria, Christian, Camila, Lorena, Juan Carlos, Gustavo, Fernando, Luis, Leonel and Kris, aka Dream Team Tomé