The beginnings of electric lighting in Santiago de Chile. Municipal views, centrality and technology in the urban space at the turn of the century

This article analyzes the urban extension of the first places, circuits, and electric lighting in Santiago at the turn of the century. This insertion from the municipality was based on visions about electrification, which associated this energy with progress, efficiency, and technical rationality, preceded by a historical context where kerosene and gas lighting were considered deficient, linked to a colonial past. It is proposed, based on the methodological review of municipal and legislative sources and the newspaper El Ferrocarril, that these visions materialized in a double centrality, spatial and political. First, based on the strategic location of the first circuits and lighting, privileging the center over peripheral sectors, which will be illustrated through a series of plans. Second, related on a strong centralism from the municipality, based on the possible economic and industrial benefits that Santiago could develop using such energy. Finally, from the history of technology and urban history, this article highlights the importance of studying the first insertions of electricity in Santiago, complexifying its urban and political specificities, as well as its consequences for electricity regulations during the first part of the twentieth century in Chile.