Santiago: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Santiago de Chile was founded in 1541 by conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. The city's grid design was laid out very early, stretching out from present-day Plaza de Armas, but attempts by the Araucanian Indians to kill everyone in town meant that for several years the settlement consisted of little more than a besieged hillside camp of adobe houses. By the late 16th century, Santiago was a settlement of just 200 houses inhabited by 700 Spaniards, plus their thousands of Indian slave-laborers and a growing population of mestizos.

Chile remained a backwater of imperial Spain for nearly three centuries, subject to the Viceroyalty of Peru, and it was not until the late 18th century that Santiago slowly began to look more like a city. Construction took place along the Mapocho River to prevent it from flooding; roads between the capital and its port of Valparaíso were improved; and civic beautification projects were put in place to please the landowning aristocracy. But progress was slow - when colonial rule ended in the early 19th century, Santiago had barely 30,000 residents. City streets remained largely unpaved, and most country roads were still tracks with many potholes. There were few schools, and not much cultural life.

In just a few decades, however, the capital had more than 100,000 inhabitants. Railway and telegraph lines linked the city to Valparaíso, and the bustling commercial center soon had a population of 60,000. The aristocracy spent millions on splendid mansions adorned with imported luxuries, wintering and summering in the city, and spending the remaining months at their rural estates. They created an elite society based around social clubs, the track, the opera and outings to exclusive Parque Cousiño (today's more egalitarian Parque O'Higgins). Most sent their children to be educated in Europe. Meanwhile, more poor people were arriving: by 1875, domestic migration had pushed Santiago's population to 150,000, as crop failures drove farm laborers and tenants from the land.

Modern History

Rapid industrialization following WWII created more urban employment, but it was never enough to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for jobs. Continued rural poverty in the 1960s forced tens of thousands of people to move to squatter settlements around the edges of Santiago. The Allende government was elected in 1970 with the hope it could help these people, but the streets of Santiago soon became a bloody battleground when mutinous elements of the armed forces, with the approval and support of the CIA, overthrew the democratic Allende government. It was replaced by one of the worst of Latin America's military juntas, led by General Augusto Pinochet.

Recent History

The Pinochet era left its scars on Santiago. Street fighting and air attacks left buildings such as the presidential Palacio de la Moneda unusable for more than a decade, and damage to surrounding buildings is still being repaired.

More damaging, however, is the legacy of the Pinochet dictatorship's economic program, which introduced an ethic of excessive corporate consumerism. Santiago's already very bad air pollution was made far worse by the regime's promotion of private automobile ownership. With 4.5 million people, the city is one of South America's largest, but its congested city streets and urban sprawl are permanently characterized by a blanket of LA-esque smog.

Authorities are now improving some of the city's problems, with particular attention to transport, congestion and pollution. Planned decentralization has eased some pressure, and the granting of land titles has transformed many callampas (shanty towns). They still stand in marked contrast, however, to affluent eastern suburbs.

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