The housing committees of Alto Ventanas, Los Médanos de Campiche, El Sueño de la Casa Propia, and Bucalemu began a new phase this week on their journey toward homeownership. This involves the participatory design process for their future homes, which will be carried out in conjunction with the sponsoring organization Carlos Carrillo and the architecture firm BL Arquitectos. All of this is taking place in the municipality of Puchuncaví, in the province of Valparaíso.
This new milestone was marked by the start of a series of meetings held last Thursday, in which all the families belonging to the El Sueño de la Casa Propia committee in Puchuncaví and the Médanos de Campiche committee participated. At the meeting, which will be repeated this Saturday, June 28, with the remaining committees, the Maratué master plan, designed by Foster and Partners (an international architecture firm based in London), was presented. The work phases for this new stage were also agreed upon, and the participatory methodologies that will allow families to contribute directly to the design of their homes were discussed.
This new phase is the result of work carried out over the past few years by more than 370 families who meet all the requirements of the DS49 program of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. The focus now will be on designing the homes they will live in, taking into account their expectations, needs, and lifestyles, always within the regulatory framework of the housing subsidy.
“It’s a big step, because at first we had doubts, but now we’re progressing through the stages and it’s clear that something more concrete and peaceful is coming: the houses. Housing is desperately needed because the community has grown a lot and it’s been more than 15 years since any social housing solutions were built. Maratué has the conditions to do it, and it’s important because there are many people who have been waiting for years for their own home,” said Jimena Rodríguez, secretary of Los Médanos de Campiche.
For her part, Jocelyn Gómez, president of El Sueño de la Casa Propia de Puchuncaví (The Dream of Owning a Home in Puchuncaví), said, “We hope this stage will bring a new vision and a broader design. Ultimately, it’s a project that will be visible throughout Chile, with everyone watching closely what happens. It’s been great working with EP (Empresa Popular), because they’ve been very supportive. Housing is urgently needed, because before, this was considered a sacrifice zone, but now we want to turn the page and show that’s not the case, since there are no opportunities to access housing here.”
Over the next few days, meetings will continue with the committee leaders and families, addressing three main areas: the progress of the social work carried out by the EP (Public Works Agency), the presentation of the master plan for the urban sector where the homes could be located, and the formal start of the participatory design process. This last phase will take place over several months and includes surveys, assessments, and workshops where the families themselves will be key players.
“The homes to be designed must comply with the standards and conditions of DS49, a program regulated in terms of size, budget, and technical specifications. However, one of the central objectives of this stage is to find housing solutions—within that framework—in conjunction with the committees, combining functionality and architectural quality, in harmony with the urban environment defined in the master plan,” added Klaus Benkel, partner at BL Arquitectos.
The future homes will be located on land in Maratué, which is part of an urban master plan developed by the renowned architecture and urban planning firm Foster + Partners. This plan projects gradual and sustainable urban growth over 45 years, allocating more than 50% of the land to conservation, green spaces, and inclusive public areas.
Over 45 years, it envisions the construction of more than 2,000 homes for families receiving housing subsidies, prioritizing local committees that have been waiting for a solution for years. For these families, the project not only offers the concrete possibility of accessing housing, but also of becoming part of a well-located neighborhood, connected to nature and urban services, and designed according to high standards of equity and inclusion.