The situation concerning the issue of housing when the new democratic government assumed the direction of the State was dramatic. The deficit reached more than 900,000 families. This government and the next had a double task: first solve the housing deficit, then make necessary changes to the housing policies established during the dictatorship to improve their action and focus.
The programmatic proposal of the government of Patricio Aylwin focused on three basic points: increase the production of houses for the poorest families and
"allegados”32, improve neighbourhoods and cities, and add a real social participation of the community in the design and implementation of the housing programmes33.
32 "Allegados" are families that moved to the house of relatives or friends for an undetermined period of time, dramatically increasing the density of the "slum camps", especially the ones formed before 1973, but continuing as a reality even today.
33 Mac Donald, J. (1992) Gestión del desarrollo social chileno: el sector vivienda, Corporación de Promoción Universitaria, Santiago. p. 51
The big problem (a direct result of the housing deficit) was the situation of
"allegados". This situation can be explained as due to the intransigent attitude of the military government regarding respect for the private property of abandoned sites (usually bought for land speculation) resulting in an armed repression of attempts to use these spaces by roofless families.
During the first democratic government MINVU had a special concern to adapt housing policy instruments so that they could work better in the context of the new characteristics they desired to implant: emphasis on low-income sectors, a new development strategy, and the idea of economic and social growth with equity. These reforms were reflected in a diversification of housing programs targeting all social classes. For example, the Basic Housing Programme of SERVIU had clear rules regarding the size of site lots: 100 m2 for a one-level house and 60 m2 for two-level houses34 (Fig. 4.11 and 4.12).
The targeting of the poorest sectors is evident if we see that the Basic Housing Programme had 79% of its beneficiaries in the poorest quintile according the CAS File, while in the Progressive Housing Programme it reached 65%.
During the second democratic government led by President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1994-2000), the strategic objectives were structured on foundations created by the previous government. A refinement of housing policy was conducted, seeking emphasis on social equity. Collective modes of postulating benefits were privileged, the urban quality of housing developments was improved, and a new offer of urban programmes was generated, including the idea of urban "mega-projects" that guided the housing action. The guiding principles of the policy of the Housing Ministry during
34 MINVU op.cit., p. 104
the Frei Ruiz-Tagle administration were these: the citizen as the centre of housing policy, pursuit of equity and solidarity and of a real sense of social participation, the pursuit of sustainable cities, search for efficient urban markets (specifying all subsidies and costs), and promoting a State subsidiary regulator and facilitator, and finally the consolidation of participatory ways of building cities35.
This period also saw the Chile-Barrio Programme, which allowed a real improvement in the quality of urban space of "slum camps" already existing in the city.
All this occurred within a larger government plan for the eradication of extreme poverty.
Perhaps the greatest example of state action on the issue of housing during the first decade of democracy was the social housing units in apartment blocks of four levels. The buildings housing complex "Las Parcelas", (see image 4.13) are representative of this type of social housing, where in a total of about 50 square meters, three bedrooms are designed along with a main space that concentrates the common household activities. Densification of different areas of the country through this model, meant the formation of ghettos of social housing, where families lived almost overcrowded, proving to be an ineffective housing solution and being replaced in the late 1990s by units with more square-footage, terminations and associated public space.
The third and fourth democratic governments led by Ricardo Lagos (2000-2006) and Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010) concentrated their efforts on certain clear ideas, among which was a more comprehensive notion with respect to housing projects, integrating ideas about urbanization and the city. There was a stronger emphasis on self-regulation, seeking to manage public resources involved in housing policy, to be sure they were properly spent. There were also self-imposed goals regarding
35 Loc. cit., p. 129
improvement of the quality of the housing units and the urban quality of the projects that could be fulfilled. It is important to highlight the programme “quiero mi barrio” (I love my neighbourhood) which provided funding and technical support to projects created by the same communities for the improvement of their neighbourhoods, with good results.
Meanwhile the government of Sebastián Piñera (2010-2014) placed its greatest concern for the housing reconstruction process in the areas affected by the massive earthquake and tsunami of February 27, 2010. The task of rebuilding the homes affected, both through forms of direct construction and through grants, leaves it impossible to observe any significant variation in social housing as far as policies or plans are concerned, as they mostly continued with initiatives and programmes that already existed.