Abstract:
Urban sprawl has been widely discussed in the extant literature on suburbanisation and transformation of fringe/belt areas. However, there is a persistent focus on its built-up dimension and a lack of attention on the composition of its unbuilt geography. Pieces of countryside, farmlands, landfills, brownfields, speculation lands, infrastructural lands, derelict and abandoned spaces, restriction areas and others, illustrate a multifaceted landscape that contribute to the complex nature of sprawl as a realm where different functions and non-urban representations coexist. In this light, the lexicon in planning provides a range of definitions, but they emerge as partial, specific or critical for the whole spectrum of expressions that characterise the fragmented nature of urban sprawl. In this paper, I discuss these understandings, to then place the term ‘interstitial space’ as one that provides a more comprehensive framework for the values and implications of the different components of the unbuilt suburban geography. This is empirically illustrated by the case of Santiago de Chile where different undeveloped lands were mapped. It depicts a varied taxonomy of interstices understood in different ways that confirms its conceptual amplitude to operationalise further analysis. These understandings arise from semi-structured interviews with a wide range of actors including politicians, policy-makers, developers, residents, planners, scholars and socio-environmental organisations. I finally conclude that urban sprawl is not only defined by urbanised spaces but also interstices.
