Dimensión espacial de la movilidad cotidiana universitaria: el caso de Valparaíso metropolitano

Abstract

This research stresses the effects of student mobility trends concerning the dynamic changes inside the urban metropolitan context of Valparaiso, Chile. These dynamic urban changes are mainly characterized by functional imbalances inside the metropolitan urban structure, namely: (i) the increase of global accessibility concerning investment programs in road infrastructure for the main urban corridors , and (ii) the progressive incorporation of more heterogeneous groups of students, covering the entire socioeconomic spectrum. Both, the traditional model of the University, oriented to the professional excellence and a social network of aid for the low income students, have shifted, as is seem, reflected in the increasing dissociation between living-/ and workspace. This problem was solving 50 years ago by the Residential Campus area. A new model emerges, by increasingly externalizing student residence towards the metropolitan urban context. Preliminary research outcomes reveal complex social and urban-environmental consequences in the urban development.