Dime qué tipo de vegetación tienes y te diré en qué comuna vives. La injusta distribución de la vegetación en Santiago de Chile

Abstract

Abstract: Different studies have shown that the city of Santiago is unequal in terms of areas cove red by vegetation. However, these studies have not explored as to whether these inequa lity levels differ depending on the specific types of land- and vegetation-cover. With this aim, this study uses satellite images and spectral classification techniques to map five land-cover types (i.e. built-up, bare soil, grass, evergreen trees, deciduous trees), using these results to evaluate if inequalities in land-cover types are associated to the levels of poverty of the 34 municipalities conforming the Greater Santiago. Results show that the highest levels of inequality between municipalities are mostly driven by the coverage of trees, which is ostensibly lower in municipalities with higher poverty rates. Unfortunately, higher poverty-rate municipalities are also the ones with the highest proportion of built- up cover, leaving them with limited spaces to implement new vegetated areas. Solving this vegetation inequality problem will require advancing toward a robust urban vegeta tion monitoring system, implementing urban vegetation cover standards, and developing profound urban transformation programs.

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