Abstract
The paper describes how poverty and exclusion within Santiago has been overlooked, in part, because of the city’s strong economic performance and impressive aggregate social indicators. It highlights how segregrated the city has become - for instance the political fragmentation and the large differentials between the 34 municipalities that make up Greater Santiago in terms of their per capita income, quality of education, extent of new building investment, and municipal authorities’ levels of income and expenditure. It also describes the loss of social and physical space for public interaction and the rising perception of insecurity. It suggests that such problems are in part linked to the lack of democratic structures within Santiago since it lacks a democratic metropolitan government and most power, resources and decisions remain with national ministries.