LAUSR

Current production of Chilean urban space is heavily conditioned by the performance of the real estate market and State’s flexibility with building regulations. From this scenario, in the last decades it is possible to observe important problems of residential segregation in main Chilean cities, which aggravates the possibilities of encounters between different groups. Although the theme of social urban relationships has been addressed by many studies, it is clear that the great majority use traditional indicators of residential segregation, avoiding the determinants that make up class position in urban spaces. The present paper describes the processes of socio-spatial mixing in Temuco, one of Chile's intermediate cities with the greatest population growth in the last time. Considering people’s occupational dimensions in the labour market, which theoretically constitute the notion of social class, level and type of social relationships in different areas of the city are compared during the intercensal period 1992-2017. Combining descriptive and exploratory statistical analysis and using the area and censorial entity as a territorial unit, the results indicate an extension of social mixing in large areas, and a consolidation of the highest classes at the west side of the city. Finally, and as shown in this article, the most favoured groups have grown apart from middle and low classes over time.