From an estate to urban districts. Invasions, expropriations, and sales in the transformation of San Juan (Lima, 1940–2020)

Abstract

This study, within the context of the urban transformation of the city of Lima (Peru) between the twentieth century and the present, investigates an agricultural estate (San Juan) that became incorporated into Lima’s urban area, now part of the current districts of San Juan de Miraflores, Villa María del Triunfo, Surco and Chorrillos. It analyzes the mechanisms of this transformation, highlighting informal land occupations by migrants or institutions, expropriations carried out by the State, as well as the land sales themselves made by the owner, a charitable institution within society. The work is relevant because it emphasizes the complexity of the process that took place, the role of the State, the social changes, as well as the importance of using new archival sources to ppproach these issues.