artículo
Spatial dynamics in the urban-rural-natural interface within a social-ecological hotspot
Fecha
2023Registro en:
10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.103060
1873-7730
0143-6228
SCOPUS_ID:85167799691
WOS:001061623300001
Autor
Moreira-Munoz, Andres
Río López, Camilo del
Leguia-Cruz, Marcelo
Mansilla-Quinones, Pablo
Institución
Resumen
City-regions in sensitive environmental spaces such as globally recognized biodiversity hotspots face the chal-lenge of adopting land use planning strategies that facilitate the transition towards sustainability. Though landscape-scale patterns of land use changes have already been documented in central Chile, a critical spatial assessment of the dynamics and forces shaping current land use and the conservation landscape in the Valpar-aiso-Santiago city-region has not yet been undertaken. We applied a satellite-based survey of urban sprawl and the extension and recurrence of wildfires spanning a 35-year timeframe from 1985 to 2020. We compared their spatial occurrence with high ecological value areas (HEVA) and analyzed the resulting patterns within the framework of an ad-hoc centrifugal forces model. Results show a constant expansion of urban sprawl and direct impacts of wildfires affecting biodiversity values. La Campana-Pen & SIM;uelas Biosphere Reserve emerges as a relevant spatial feature that can facilitate the transition towards sustainability at the regional scale, although the laissez-faire stance of the dominant neoliberal economic model in Chile is the most evident threat to the transition toward sustainability. We conclude that the study area, with the attributes of a social-ecological hotspot, shows strengths such as a space capable of transformative change and the potential of a regenerative city-region.