In Latin America, globalization started first in Chile, around the shift to the neoliberal economic model in 1974. It has manifested itself in various structural changes in the Chilean capital Santiago. Privatization of public space, accelerated socio-spatial segregation, the privatization of services and especially education, plus foreign immigration, led to urban renewal and functional revitalization on the one hand, to tugurization and ghettoization trends on the other. The result is a fragmented urban fabric, characterized by islands of wealth and poverty within the traditional urban structure. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.