INDUSTRIALIZATION OF WOODEN BUILDINGS IN CHILE. A multiscale approximation between sustainability and territorial conflicts

Abstract

Wooden construction has been present since the beginning of humanity, but today, faced with the effects of climate change and sustainability discourses, the use of wood as a construction material is presented as a sustainable option. In this sense, in the Latin American region, Chile is one of the most advanced countries in this matter, however, in comparative terms with Europe and North America, wood construction is still in its infancy. The development of wooden construction has been driven mainly by the two main forestry companies in Chile (ARAUCO and CMPC), who have implemented several initiatives to promote wooden construction, including the manufacture of CLT and high-tech prefabricated housing plants. , which has been promoted through a discourse of urban sustainability on the part of the forestry holdings that has been promoted by the State, but that hides the territorial tensions given in the production of the raw material, in local urban planning and in “sustainable” practices in the territories. Therefore, this article analyzes in multi-scale terms the territorial and discursive implications of the Chilean forestry sector associated with the industrialization of wooden construction, through a review of the state of the art referring to the forestry sector, the housing deficit, projects in wooden building and public policies related to the promotion of wooden building in Chile (corporate/institutional documents, web pages, magazines and promotional activities, residential projects, policies related to wooden construction, technical reconfiguration of the forestry industry, etc. ), and correlative discourse analysis to understand the industrialization process of wooden construction (coding based on the word "sustainability" and "construction"). In such a way that the article starts by making an introduction of what wooden construction is to contextualize the Chilean case. Then, the milestones that gave rise to the use of this material in the construction of residential projects are pointed out, pointing out who and where these events took place and under what discourses they were implemented. Continuing with the presentation of the role of the state and the promotion of wooden construction, through the various public policies that have been designed and established. Ending with a theoretical discussion about the discourses of sustainability and territorial planning.

Keywords: wooden buildings, wooden housing projects, sustainable urban planning, territorial conflicts