Urban coves of the Metropolitan Area of Concepción. Transformations at Caleta Cerro Verde Bajo, Penco

Abstract

The article aims to identify the transformations that modified the territory and the ways of inhabiting the Cerro Verde Bajo fishermen's cove, and the strategies implemented by its inhabitants in the face of these changes. It is structured in three periods linked to the national development models that have transformed the coastal edge, the habitat and the ways of inhabiting the cove. These transformations are analyzed from a historical perspective of the Metropolitan Area of fishermen's through a review of primary sources (newspapers of the time, photographs, oral testimonies) and secondary sources (academic articles, history manuals, official documents). At Cerro Verde Bajo, the pressures for the use of the coastline by the port of Lirquén and the overexploitation of resources by industrial fishing have caused a deterioration of existing practices and the disappearance of traditional spaces. That said, it is argued that the cove is currently in a fragile condition in its social, cultural and productive activities, which puts its continuity at risk and makes it necessary to establish strategies to maintain its traditions, identity and history over time.