Cartographic expression and urbanism of Valdivia and Nueva Imperial (southern Chile): a comparative analysis

Abstract

This paper presents a planimetric analysis based on the systematization of documents, cartography and historical information of two southern cities of Chile: Valdivia and Nueva Imperial. From two groups of historical cartography, representative urbanistic elements, urban growth phases, and patterns in the property division were determined for each city. The urban history of those cities is valued individually and jointly, in a broader historical and territorial process. The study distinguishes substantial chronological differences in the political process that originated the two cities. However, both present similarities in its location, scale and the own attributes of the Spanish American checkerboard street plan--active during the Chilean occupation of Araucanía in the late nineteenth century. The projection of the analytical methodology presented seeks its relevance for the study of other cities in southern Chile, valuing the interdisciplinary work on cartographic collections and cartography of cities preserved in diverse local, national and international archives.