Browsing by Author "Barrera, Francisco de la"
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- ItemBeyond the Canopy: In Situ Evidence of Urban Green Spaces’ Cooling Potential Across Three Chilean Cities(2025) Salgado Durán, Karina Ximena; Barrera, Francisco de la; Salinas, Valentina; González, Sergio; Reyes Paecke, Sonia; Truffello Robledo, Ricardo; Salvati, AgneseVegetation in urban green spaces plays a critical role in mitigating surface heat, yet the magnitude of this effect remains uncertain across scales and measurement methods. This study assesses the cooling performance during the summer of 94 green spaces in three Chilean cities—classified in three types according to their size—combining satellite-derived land surface temperature (LST) data with high-resolution in situ thermal imaging. We performed comparisons of the cooling effects of green spaces and their components (vegetation, impermeable and semi-permeable surfaces). Spearman’s correlation analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn post hoc were used to evaluate associations and differences. Results demonstrate that vegetation quantity and composition—particularly tree and shrub cover—are key determinants of cooling performance. In situ measurements reveal that green spaces are on average 9.3 °C cooler than their urban surroundings, substantially exceeding differences captured by LST. Additionally, shaded surfaces within green spaces exhibit temperature reductions of 12 °C to 17 °C compared to sun-exposed areas, underscoring the role of vegetation in mitigating surface heat extremes. These findings challenge the sole reliance on remote sensing for urban heat assessments and highlight the value of integrating ground-based observations. This study advances understanding of vegetation’s localized cooling potential in Latin American cities and provides actionable insights for urban climate resilience planning.
- ItemCerros isla en las ciudades de Chile: oportunidades para una planificación ecológica(Universidad de Chile. Instituto de la Vivienda, 2023) Picon Meleda, María Catalina; Contreras, Carolina; Berrizbeitia, Anita; Barrera, Francisco de la; Reyes-Paecke, Sonia; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Escuela de ArquitecturaIsland hills (IHs) represent elements of important natural and cultural heritage value. However, despite their notable presence in Latin American cities, there is little documented knowledge that may facilitate their recognition and incorporation into urban planning. The objective of this work is to identify, classify, and characterize the mostly non-urbanized IHs located within the urban area of the 16 regional capital cities of Chile. The 75 IHs identified were classified into three typologies and characterized according to their land coverage, buildings, and associated regulations. In the 16 cities, there are 32 urban island hills, 24 urban hills on the urban edge, and 19 hills that are part of mountain ridges on the urban edge, concentrated in Santiago, Concepción and Copiapó. These covers consisting of by native forest, shrublands, and forestry plantations in the southern part of the country, and soils with scarce vegetation in the northern area, reflecting the geographic diversity as well as the pressures and uses that exist in the territory. Thus, Concepción’s IHs have 30% or more of their surface covered by forestry plantations; and of the total, 83% of the IHs have built elements and 36% have heritage elements. In terms of urban regulations, there is no typical zoning for hills, and diverse uses coexist.
- ItemEfectos de la Urbanización en la Conectividad ecológica de paisajes metropolitanos(2017) Rojas Quezada, Carolina Alejandra; Barrera, Francisco de la; Pino, Joan; Munizaga, Juan Manuel; Vidaurrázaga Aránguiz, TamaraLa urbanización de paisajes naturales y seminaturales genera consecuencias en ciudades latinoamericanas de tamaño medio. En Chile, el crecimiento urbano y el desarrollo de actividades forestales han afectado la funcionalidad y biodiversidad del paisaje. El Área Metropolitana de Concepción (en adelante AMC) es representativa de la combinación de ambos procesos dado que su paisaje circundante está mayormente cubierto por plantaciones forestales. En este trabajo se evalúan los cambios en la “conectividad ecológica” del AMC, como atributo significativo para la conservación del paisaje. Se analizan los cambios en la conectividad a través de una metodología de tipo paramétrica, calculando indicadores a nivel de paisaje y a nivel de ecosistemas. Las métricas aplicadas se basan en principios de ecología del paisaje y en el procesamiento de imágenes satelitales clasificadas en sistemas de información geográfica (SIG).Los resultados obtenidos indican que, los cambios en el paisaje del AMC han generado un paisaje rural-urbano con una alta fragmentación de los ecosistemas
- ItemRelationship between Wildfire Smoke and Children’s Respiratory Health in the Metropolitan Cities of Central-Chile(2022) Ciciretti, Rebecca; Barraza, Francisco; Barrera, Francisco de la; Urquieta, Lorna; Cortés, Sandra; CEDEUS (Chile)