Urban Discarding in the Anthropocene: The Case of Chuquicamata and a Vision of Left-behind Places in Chile

In 2007, the Chuquicamata housing camp in northern Chile became a ghost town. The state-owned company CODELCO Chile, prioritising mining business continuity, updated copper extraction operations and implemented a housing relocation plan. After 92 years, the housing area was abandoned and partly buried, with its entire population moved to neighbouring Calama. This action of urban discarding exemplifies an accelerated creation of "left-behind places" in Latin America.

The Chuquicamata case presents a unique instance where "leaving behind" is not a gradual disinvestment but an active, strategic decision driven by industrial imperatives. This article posits that "urban discarding" represents a more deliberate form of creating left-behind places, where industrial needs supersede existing social and spatial fabrics. The content develops in three parts: First, it examines urban discarding in relation to extractive operations, linking housing development to the Anthropocene and globalisation. Second, it analyses how operational logistics influence social and community organisation, exploring conditions of belonging and abandonment through community-expressed collective actions. Finally, it presents a vision of abandoned regions in Chile, challenging current conceptions of left-behind places and reconsidering value assignment to communities amidst global economic restructuring and resource extraction.

This study contributes to the broader understanding of urban abandonment processes in extractive industries, offering insights into the rapid transformation of mining communities in the Global South. By examining Chuquicamata's urban discarding, the research illuminates the complex interplay between industrial progress, community displacement, and the creation of left-behind places in the context of the Anthropocene.