Chillán was the only one of the three communes of Ñuble included in a study regarding the urban life quality indices (IVCU) that advanced from the “Medium Low” category assigned to it in 2021, to the “Medium High” category. in 2022.
Of a total of 99 communes analyzed in the research led by the Chilean Chamber of Construction (CCHC) in conjunction with the Institute of Urban and Territorial Studies of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC), Chillán Viejo and San Carlos, which were considered as “metropolitan cities” to separate them from the “intermediate cities”. However, both communes are still in the “low” segment, so they have not shown major improvements since 2021.
Among the variables that were considered for this study are the dimensions Housing and Environment, Health and Environment, Sociocultural Conditions, Labor Conditions, as well as Connectivity and Mobility. The study did not provide disaggregated data for these dimensions, which limits the analysis of each factor separately.
However, the mayor of Chillán, Camilo Benavente, attributed this increase to the fact that “since we took office we have started up the municipal delegations, we have increased the improvement of roads, we have built the Doña Rosa bridge in the eastern zone to improve road traffic, We are making progress in the construction of sidewalks and we are recovering green areas in different sectors of the city”.
Regarding the values of a social order, it points to the management to obtain “the land that will give life to the rehabilitation center of the Teletón and we create the House of Neurodiversity, the Office for Women and the Office for Religious Affairs”, .
He also highlighted the work promoted by the municipal Public Security Directorate to achieve greater control power and actions to prevent crimes and incivilities in various neighborhoods, villas, rural towns and the downtown area, and also highlighted the work carried out by the Directorate of Productive Development to promote entrepreneurship and the work carried out by Secpla in the advancement and completion of a series of infrastructure projects for the recovery of new public spaces.
Pending issues
According to the study, of the 99 communes studied (all with a minimum of 50,000 inhabitants), 19 of them are in the “High Level” segment in terms of quality of life, which is equivalent to 2,780,290 inhabitants.
Another 18 are in the Medium-High level (3,739,215 inhabitants); there are 23 in the Medium-low segment (3,249,187 inhabitants) and 39 -that is, the majority- present a Low level (4,169,068 inhabitants), including San Carlos and Bulnes.
Benavente admits that “there are still many things to improve, but these are tasks that unfortunately cannot be solved overnight, especially when it comes to social problems such as street trade, but nevertheless we are making a lot of efforts to contain it”
