A Rarity in South America

Santiago, Chile

The usual profile of the cities that we have crossed so far on this trip is of a wealth pyramid. In the centre there is money, history, sanity, and (relative) safety but, as you head outwards, the economic status falls exponentially until the edges are primitive, broken, and desperate; full of struggling people, choking diesels, and burning garbage.

Quito and La Paz follow this model and the worst is Lima, the caporal of Peru, where there is a square mile or two of “normality” surrounded by fifty miles of unplanned development, chaotic transport, and miserable conditions in all directions. These cities have virtually no public transport and appear to have nothing that translates into a building code or city plan.

I assumed this was the model for all of South America until we rolled into Santiago, Chile. But no. This is a beautiful and livable city jammed against a backdrop of the snow covered Andes. We did not ride through a perimeter barrier of slums to get to the city but through well built suburbs with decent shopping on main roads that were pothole free and safe at high speeds. The streets are wide and pleasant and there are dozens of open air cafes with every imaginable healthy food choice.

The city also feels youthful and vibrant. No accident maybe as Santiago’s nickname is Chilecon Valley after a program that has created a Silicon Valley entrepreneurial culture by exploiting America’s main weakness; its awful immigration system. The US turns away new talent and Chile is welcoming them with incentives and investment to try and diversify the economy from just natural resources. The majority of the hundreds of companies that have been nurtured by Start-Up Chile in Santiago have their origins in the US with home grown companies coming in second.

One reason that the city is functional and pleasant is that it has a metro system that handles 2.4 million rides a day. I took a ride and it felt like being in Paris or London and the system recently won the “Best Underground in the Americas”.

The traffic in Santiago at rush hour is horrendous but imagine what the city would look like if another couple of million people were on the streets trying to get to work in cars and buses.

Well I can imagine what it would look like – it’d look like Lima.