Ecobreves – CHILE: Neighborhood Defense

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

SANTIAGO, Mar 3 2002 (IPS) - A group of neighbors in the Chilean capital won the international prize for protection of cultural heritage, a 10,000-dollar award given by the Andrés Bello Foundation, for their defense of the historic Bellavista district, located on the banks of the Mapocho River. The neighbors worked with civil society organizations to fight the construction of a highway that was originally designed to pass through Bellavista, one of Santiago's oldest and most typical neighborhoods.

Under the new design, the seven-km tract of the highway will follow the Mapocho River instead of crossing the residential district.