The link between territorial perception and spatial mobility in trajectories of the professional middle-class: Los Lagos region, Chile

Abstract

We aimed to identify the contents of subjective perceptions that the professional middle-class of the Los Lagos region has of their territories of origin, and how they are linked to spatial mobility strategies in three moments of their life trajectories: secondary education, access to university education and placement in the job market. Overall, 43 interviews were analyzed qualitatively using the Atlas.ti software. We investigated the relationship between intermediate and hinterland cities, and between region of origin and regions with the presence of metropolitan cities. We found that the perceptions are associated with specific spatial mobility strategies, and that the territorial levels of the tensions, centrifugal and centripetal forces, vary according to the moment of the subjects’ life cycle.

Subjective perception of the territory; spatial mobility; professional middle-class; life trajectories; intermediate cities