Green infrastructure and ecosystem services to …Green infrastructure and ecosystem services to...
Transcript of Green infrastructure and ecosystem services to …Green infrastructure and ecosystem services to...
Green infrastructure and ecosystem services to tackle climate change in
Chilean cities
Alexis Vásquez, Pamela Smith, Dayán Martín and Cristián Henríquez
Laboratorio de Medioambiente y Territorio. Departamento de Geografía
Universidad de Chile
Green Infrastructure Research Group http://thegirg.org/
UGI: interconnected network of green spaces that preserve the functions of natural ecosystems and provides benefits to the population.
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European Environment Agency (2011)
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UGI: can help to address CC: (1) increasing resilience levels, and; (2) provision of ES contributing to face of CC (mitigation and adaptation).
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In developing countries elaborating green infrastructure plans to face climate change is just starting…
(1) To analyze urban climate and urban green infrastructure in six Chilean cities.
(2) To analyze the Mapocho’s riparian corridor
and its surrounding in terms of current and potential contribution for to cope climate change by evaluating three key ecosystem services: (a) cooling effect, (b) flood mitigation, and (c) routes for non-motorized transport.
Research Goal
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1
2
3 4
5 6
Study area
200 m
200 m
Watercourse Length
(km)
Riparian zone
(ha)
Mapocho 54 1,498
De Ramon 7 272
Nido de Águila 4 143
Zanjón de la Aguada 32 1,209
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Study area: 200 meter buffer surrounding the Mapocho river where it pass through the urban area of Santiago, and beyond 2,000 meters upstream and downstream the built-up-area. This area include 11 different municipalities.
2,000 m
2,000 m
- GIS techniques - Municipal
inventories - Census data
- Field work - Measuraments - Surveys
- Remote sensing - Aerial photographs
Cooling effect
Non-motorized transport
Flood mitigation
Methods
Mitigation - Adaptation
Adaptation
Mitigation
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Mobile transects Fixed data loggers (HOBO pendant)
Methods
8 Summer, 2011 January 11, 2011 (morning, afternoon, night)
Cooling effect
Air temperature for the two hottest days registered in summer 2011 (HOBO).
Point 4 and 5, that represent border of the stream are 0.5°C cooler than urban reference station (Independencia), but this values are not statistically significant (p < 0.05). 9
Mobile transects of air temperature, noon 11/01/2011
Cooling effect
Transects 2, 6, 8 and 15 show the cooling effect of river stream, in both borders. On the contrary, the transect 3, 5 and 7 are cooler than the river stream.
T16T15
T14T13
T12T11
T10T9
T8T7
T6T5
T4T3
T2T1
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-3
-2
-1
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3
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P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
Dif
fere
nce
of
air
tem
pe
ratu
re (
ºC)°
C
Point
West
East
Center
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40Perc
enta
ge (
%)
Land use/cover changes in buffer zone
1955
1992
2006/7
Flood mitigation
70% of the city population (around 40,000 people) are living within the Mapocho’s riparian zone and they are affected by floods, especially in the western section.
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10
20
30
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70
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90
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Perc
enta
ge (
%)
Highway Streets Bikeways
Transport network composition
90.2% of the transport network in the riparian zone is dominated by streets (78.6%) and urban highways (11.6%). Bikeways represent just 9.8 % of the transport network. 12
Non-motorized transport
n=1,240
These riparian parks support urban connectivity because they are used importantly as a route for non-motorized transport and running and biking.
Reason for the use public parks
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Non-motorized transport
Final remarks
• No strong evidence was found that the Mapocho river and its riparian zone are providing a real cooling effect.
• The riparian zone does not act as a flood protection buffer in most of its course.
• Transport infrastructure in Mapochos’s riparian zone is motorized oriented, especially for private cars.
The main contribution the Mapocho’s riparian corridor (urban parks) to cope with climate change is mitigation of greenhouse gas emission, because is mainly used as route for non-motorized transport.
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Thank you!!
Gracias!!
www.corredoresverdes.cl
Fondecyt Grants Nº1130311 and Nº1130305
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