Creating Green in the City: the Intersection of “Nature” and Urban Planning in the Metropolitan Region of Valparaíso

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2016
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Bryn Mawr College. Department of Growth and Structure of Cities
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eng
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Tri-College users only
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Abstract
Relationships between nature and the built environment of our cities often end up simplified and neglected, with urban planning focused on preserving park spaces, but not concerned with the city as a complete ecosystem. Using a metropolitan region within Chile as an example, this paper examines various social meanings and constructions of nature and their inclusion or exclusion in the discourse and practice of urban planning. Drawing on interviews with a range of participants, as well as a careful study of urban planning documents from the region, these studies analyze how these conceptualizations of nature affect urban environmental planning and environmental management in the coastal Chilean cities of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, and Concón. It becomes clear that nature is still primarily viewed as separate and excluded from cities and that, when included, there exists a lack of systematic planning prioritizing its complex interrelationship with the built environment. These questions of nature’s inclusion in planning processes manifest themselves most strongly in urban environmental conflicts in the port of Valparaíso and the sand dunes of Concón, which are featured in this research as key examples of contested environmental management in the region. Through its analysis, this paper offers an alternative future path in which a reevaluation of Chilean conceptualizations of nature could help to diversify their strategies of environmental planning and management, and ensure a sustainable relationship between the urban and natural components of their cities.
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