Sustainability and Territory: An Approach to Shape Development from the Perspective of the Imaginary

Abstract

Processes that lead to territorial and environmental transformations are complex. This implies the acceptance of research efforts with epistemological frames that are diverse and often non-convergent. Some results and thoughts described here attempt to open new, relevant discussion on how territories are articulated and created in development discourses. We also examine how certain ideas or notions deeply affect the ways territories and identities are created, as well as how to understand social and environmental phenomena articulated within a given territory, particularly from the social imaginaries perspective. The imaginary is a concept used in sociology and philosophy (Castoriadis 1987; Habermas 1996; Taylor 2004; Anderson 1991) to refer to an intersubjectively shared notion. In this article, it refers to development: its meaning, aims, and objectives, as well as how it can best be achieved. This article focuses on the development of Concepci!on, Chile, which is considered a prototype of a growth pole or development pole (polo de crecimiento o polo de desarrollo) (Perroux 1955). This case study will provide a reflexive analysis of the various meanings that urban sustainability and sustainable development concepts have today. In this analysis, the initial approach is a geohistorical one. In the later stages of the analysis, this is complemented with elements from urban studies, as well as sociological and anthropological perspectives on cities, development, and discourse. From this, a new point of view and a new interpretation of urban development is proposed; this will lead to a discussion of certain concepts previously considered universal. These may, however, yield unexpected outcomes.