Chile's Ministry of Housing and Urbanism (Minvu) announced the expropriation of 110 out of 215 hectares at Cerro Centinela in San Antonio, land illegally occupied since 2019 by over 10,000 people. The move aims to avert a humanitarian crisis but sparks debate on the rule of law and housing planning. Experts offer opposing views on whether it legitimizes illegal takeovers or tackles structural housing shortages.
The occupation of Cerro Centinela in San Antonio started in 2019 in an organized manner, with professional planning, heavy machinery, and lot sales in a 'loteo brujo', now affecting over 10,000 people, including more than 3,000 children. A court ruling orders the eviction of the 215-hectare site, but Minvu chose to expropriate only 110 hectares for a housing project after purchase negotiations failed due to excessively speculative prices.
The expropriation process may last up to two years or more, requiring the state to evict the non-expropriated half per the ruling. Minvu spokespeople argue it prevents a humanitarian crisis, but architect Yves Besançon calls it a 'bad signal' that harms the rule of law by legitimizing an illegal takeover that should have been addressed four years ago. He notes it encourages illegal shortcuts over legal mechanisms amid a housing deficit exceeding 700,000 units, questioning if the 110 hectares will serve only the 4,000 occupying families or include 2,500 families from housing committees waiting over 10 years.
Conversely, Rodolfo Jiménez, a Usach academic and president of the College of Architects, supports expropriation as a legitimate tool balancing property rights with access to decent housing, absent from Chile's Constitution. He stresses the megatoma highlights state failure in long-term urban planning, with a deficit nearing one million homes, urging transversal consensuses for decade-long projects like Santiago's Metro, and abandoning endless urban expansions that marginalize popular sectors.