Understanding changes in the geography of opportunity over time: The case of Santiago, Chile

Abstract

Abstract The geography of opportunity research has made significant progress in recent years. The use of composite indexes aimed at capturing the attributes of different urban areas has been particularly useful to deepen the understanding of the role that the urban context plays in people s life chances. However, little attention has been paid to the dynamic component of the geography of opportunity, that is, what explains its changes over time and whether or not those changes (positive or negative) are substantial. The contribution of this work is that it offers a methodology (a conceptual framework, a composite geography of opportunity index and relative and absolute measures) that provides a holistic and in-depth approach to analyse not only the set of opportunities available in the different urban areas but also their change over time (how they change, the depth of those changes and the forces explaining it). The information generated through this approach has the advantage of better informing place-based policy interventions since it offers not only a clear classification of areas but also a useful method for comparing and monitoring the changes in the geography of opportunity over time.