Valentina Cortés is a Chilean architect and Master in Geographic Analysis from the Universidad de Concepción, Chile. Valentina graduated in architecture in 2017 from the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Geography (FAUG).

Her interest in studying housing stems from her academic education. In 2014, she developed her first research on housing, the research seminar called "Urban transformation of Tucapel Bajo (1985-2014), Urban Evolution of Social housing in Chile". This research focused on the analysis of the evolution of social housing policies in Chile, to define part of the problems of the housing provision model until then. In 2016 she graduated as a Master in Geographic Analysis with the thesis called "Analysis of the relationship between Urban Policies and Transportation Plans: the case of Lomas Coloradas, in San Pedro de La Paz (1990-2015)". This research was focused on analyzing housing problems considering a greater number of variables that included quantitative data on accessibility, materiality and centrality of the dwellings.

Valentina’s professional background involves experience in academia and practices on urban growth studies, geographic and urban and housing analysis, where she mainly focused on urban planning regulations, transport and dwelling policies.

Currently, since 2019 Valentina works as a full-time doctoral researcher in housing management at the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Built Environment, Department of Management of the Built environment under the supervision of Professor Dr.ir. Vincent Gruis and Dr Darinka Czischke. Her doctoral research is called "Collaborative housing in Chile: an Exploration of Opportunities and Barriers", and she focuses on the analysis of alternative and collaborative housing forms led mainly by residents and different stakeholders, the study of their implementation in different contexts (mainly in Chile), the definition of its dimensions, conditions, scenarios and archetypes through comparative analysis and cross-analysis of case studies and collaborative housing projects in Europe and Latin America.

Expertise:

“Incorporating new housing alternatives to create a diversification of the Chilean housing provision system, which considers the different needs of users and housing as a "multidimensional asset", considering citizen empowerment strategies at the local level. In my research, I seek to generate scientific knowledge of the forms of "Collaborative Housing" (CH) to cover the lack of knowledge existing about this topic between the global north and south. The analysis aims to compare and analyze different forms of CH, urban contexts, and different approaches of alternative housing, to determine the opportunities and limitations of CH in overcoming existing housing deficits. The objective of the research is to develop recommendations and guidelines for the implementation of "Collaborative Housing" in Chile. Besides the definition of the conditions and scenarios for the implementation of these initiatives at the local level of the territory”.

Key Words: Collaborative housing; Collaborative approaches; Chile; Chilean housing provision system; Archetypes; Opportunities & barriers; Affordability.