<p>This article describes how community action stopped two planning proposals to build in public spaces in Las Condes, a commune in the metropolitan area of Santiago in Chile. The first proposal was the construction of a shopping mall by a private owner and the second a municipal proposal by the city council to build an enclosure around a public park. Although the author is a resident of the commune, her involvement in these projects has been as an observer, rather than an active member of the community, because for most of the time, she was not in Santiago.</p>