INTRODUCTION The growing mobility demands require new urban and transport solutions, where infrastructures go be- yond their mono-functional condition to become prominent components of complex urban projects. Railways, trams, promenades and cycle paths are de- signed today as unique parts of urban projects, capa- ble of not only feeding the morphological structure and identity of each metropolis, but also to stimulate its economic growth and well-being (Andrés, 2008). These projects receive special relevance in inter- mediate cities, comprising between 50,000 and one million inhabitants, which have experienced an im- portant development during the last decades. As UNESCO states (1999), the intermediate cities de- velop remarkable physical and social mutations as- sociated with the implementation of new mobility systems. A subject that deserves a particular analy- sis, as well as the formulation of new policies and design strategies. Even though the studies about in- termediate cities have contributed to organize com- mon settlement and mobility patterns, they haven’t been able to shed enough light on the local dynamics (Salazar et al. 2018). Chile isn’t excluded from this phenomenon and presents a group of intermediate cities where local patterns clash with new habits, challenges and global urban conflicts. Cities placed on diverse geogra- phies, which reproduce Santiago’s urban model without taking into account the local dynamics (Bar- ton & Ramírez, 2017). Facing this scenario, and framed in the Urban Project Master’s degree of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile’s School of Architecture, we de- veloped a Research and Project Workshop about in- termediate cities in Chile, asking ourselves: How does the implementation of new mobility systems may stimulate specific development and urban de- sign processes in those contexts? The main goal was to identify local issues capable of informing and generating urban projects to improve comprehen- sively the mobility conditions and public space qual- ity of those cities. We worked in the cities of Iquique, La Serena, Valdivia, Osorno, Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas. From their urban historical comprehension, current dynamics and future projects, as well as their mor- phology, geography, landscape and uses, key issues were identified that led to the creation of an urban project associated with the implementation of new mobility infrastructures. Under these terms, the Workshop led the devel- opment of a thesis-project which explored the criti- cal vision of the student, and at the same time stimu- lating the development of design answers. Hence, our work is framed within the parameters of investi- gation-action, emphasizing the exploratory character of the investigation and addressing explicitly the dimension of knowledge that rises from the project. It is about an innovation related methodology, put- ting forward “operative truths”, designs or objects with the potential of changing a city’s reality. Mobility, urban design and public space in intermediate cities R. Hidalgo & F. Temtem School of Architecture; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile ABSTRACT: The new mobility infrastructures that face contemporary accessibility problems are potential elements of urban development and of the improvement of public space in the city. This fact is verified to the extent that its design is integrated into the geography, history and particular dynamics of an urban environ- ment and acquires particular relevance in the field of intermediate cities. Under this hypothesis we developed a Research and Project Workshop on intermediate cities in Chile, whose results constitute the central body of this presentation. Based on the territorial analysis and the formulation of projects for La Serena, Iquique, Alto Hospicio, Valdivia, Osorno, Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas, local solutions to global urban problems are dis- cussed. The work is framed within the parameters of action research, emphasizing the exploratory nature of research and explicitly addressing the dimension of knowledge that arises from the project.