After almost six months of work, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), the Chamber of Commerce of the Valparaíso Region, Las Salinas and Fundación Encuentros del Futuro, released the results of the Viña del Mar 2023 City Study, part of a process called Open Territorial Urban Reflection (RUTA Viña). As a contribution to the conversation about the future of the city of Viña del Mar, the City of Viña del Mar 2023 Study seeks to propose a ROUTE of dialogue and conversation, which will open a reflection open to the entire territory. Since the end of April, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, the Regional Chamber of Commerce of Valparaíso, Las Salinas and the Fundación Encuentros del Futuro, began a work of deep reflection and analysis that was presented at the PUCV headquarters, together with representatives of the participating institutions and regional authorities. With the technical advice of the consulting firm Ekhos, more than a thousand voices from Viña del Mar were part of the public opinion survey, followed by the reflection of four groups – formed by academics and members of the guilds – who addressed the results from different professional and disciplinary perspectives, while expressing their vision of the city, its identity, future and vocations, among other issues. The Rector of the PUCV, Nelson Vásquez, highlighted the role of the University in its relationship with the community in which it is inserted. “Our Strategic Development Plan, recently approved by the Superior Council, committed to a permanent work with the environment. This report, on the future development of Viña del Mar, is very significant for us as a contribution of technical knowledge to think about the city and the people; that is why eight distinguished academics integrated the technical commissions that analyzed the report”. The highest authority of the university emphasized that it was under this same commitment to the citizenship that the PUCV acquired the land of the Casa de Italia in Viña del Mar and will face its restoration in the future. “We believe that in this way we can contribute concretely to the strengthening of the city, taking charge of an important heritage site for our region and its people,” he added. Meanwhile, the President of the CRCP, Javier Torrejón, pointed out that “this study and its results are the result of a joint work between different actors of the regional activity, including the valuable testimony and experience of the citizens themselves, which are complemented by the vision of those who represent the trade associations and the academic world. In this sense, we believe that this is the right way to create and design different initiatives that can contribute to the challenges facing Viña del Mar and the cities of our country in general, for the short and long term, so it can become an important input to contribute to the discussion on the different public policies” In this sense he added, “regarding the results obtained, although the citizens surveyed who are natives of the commune maintain a very high level of attachment to the Garden City and recognize qualities such as its tourist character and a higher quality of life compared to other parts of the country, a notorious 41% also emphasize that there has been a notorious deterioration in the center of the city, where a large part of the commercial activity is concentrated. The latter is in line with what respondents indicated as one of the main challenges for Viña del Mar to reach the status of “ideal city to live in”, such as improvements in public safety (34.4%)”.
For his part, Guido Girardi, executive vice-president of the Fundación Encuentros del Futuro (FEF), said that “it seems to me that this information is crucial to be able to model possible futures. This survey shows the positive aspects that we must maintain, but also the negative aspects that we must resolve. Something relevant is that in a time of despair and crisis, we see in this sample something that should be highlighted: when people are asked how do you think it will be in 2030? people respond that there is hope. Viña del Mar has a future for the people who live in the city. Faced with the social crisis we are facing, where technology is questioning traditional institutions, people believe that by 2030 they will be better off. This is a gigantic capital that has to do with will and enthusiasm and I believe it should be transformed into an instrument of change, since the past cannot be changed, but the future can be changed”. Ricardo Labarca, development manager of Las Salinas, said that “this study was born from a space for reflection between different actors who have aligned their efforts with commitment to identify the progress, gaps and current challenges of the city of Viña del Mar from its own inhabitants. For us, what is important to know this opinion and vision of the city is the opportunity to move from diagnosis to action with concrete proposals that allow the inhabitants of this city to advance to a proposal for the future within the framework of a common vision for Viña del Mar. Along with seeing how they imagine or what they expect for the future, which gives us light to understand if there is a common vision and above all what are the challenges to which the city as a whole must respond”. The Viña del Mar 2023 City Study, part of the Open Territorial Urban Reflection (RUTA Viña), is available and can be downloaded from the website and social networks.
