The discarded city of extractivism: The case of the Chuquicamata copper mine, Chile.

Research output: ThesisDoctoral Thesis

Abstract

Territorial transformation processes linked to extractivism have been widely studied from perspectives emphasising their socio-environmental impacts and urbanisation dynamics. However, the phenomenon of planned urban discard, as a structural characteristic of these developments, has received less analytical attention. This research proposes that the systematic study of urban discard understood as an active process and not merely as a result, offers fundamental keys to understanding contemporary territorial dynamics.
The analysis of the emblematic case of Chuquicamata, a historic Chilean company town whose relocation was explicitly planned, examines how urban discard operates as a mechanism inherent to the capitalist production of space. The study dialogues with contemporary debates on planetary urbanisation (Brenner, 2017, 2020), operational territories (Arboleda, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2024) and left-behind places (Pike et al., 2024), proposing that planned obsolescence at the urban scale is not a historical anomaly but a recurring pattern in global territorial reorganisation.
The research aims to extend this analytical framework beyond the extractive context, suggesting parallels with emerging territorial processes in contemporary industries such as e-commerce, global logistics and new forms of mobile work. This conceptual extension allows for theorising about how planned discarded operates in the era of the digital economy and intensified mobility, offering tools to anticipate and manage future territorial transformations in diverse, productive contexts.
Original languageEnglish
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Minuchin, Leandro, Supervisor
  • Förster, Kim , Supervisor
Publication statusIn preparation - 18 Sept 2023

Keywords

  • Urban Discard

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