Assessing environmental inequalities in the city of Santiago (Chile) with a hierarchical multiscale approach |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA;2. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874501, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501, USA;1. Geography and Geology, Sam Houston State University, PO Box 2148, Huntsville, TX 77341, USA;2. Geography and Environmental Resources, Southern Illinois University, Mail Code 4514, Faner Hall, Carbondale, IL 62901, USA;1. Geography Department, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8W 2Y2, Canada;2. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, BC, V8Z 1M5, Canada;3. Biology Department, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8W 3R4, Canada;1. Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable CEDEUS, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, El Comendador, 1916, Providencia, Santiago, Chile;2. Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Ambiental, Escuela de Ingeniería, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna, 4860, Macul, Santiago, Chile;3. Departamento de Ecosistemas y Medio Ambiente, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna, 4860, Macul, Santiago, Chile;1. ICAAM – Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânicas, LDSP – Landscape Dynamics and Social Process Research Group, Universidade de Évora, Ap. 94, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal;2. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (CE3C), Azorean Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, University of the Azores, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, Portugal;3. Instituto de Ciências da Terra – Polo de Évora, Departamento de Física, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Évora, Portugal;4. e-GEO, Research Centre for Geography and Regional Planning, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal;5. Departamento de Paisagem, Ambiente e Ordenamento, Universidade de Évora, 7002-554 Évora, Portugal;1. Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom;2. Environment Agency, c/o Lancaster Environment Centre, University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | Environmental inequalities are a common characteristic of urban areas. Environmental inequality is the unequal spatial distribution of environmental risks and goods among social groups. As environmental inequalities are inherently a spatial matter the choice of scale is essential for correctly understanding inequality issues and for designing proper and effective mitigation policies. However, the potential effects of scale of analysis on inequalities results have largely been underestimated in the assessment of environmental inequalities, leading to contradictory results from different studies. In this study we assess the patterns of environmental inequalities and associated scale issues in the city of Santiago (Chile) using a hierarchical multiscale approach. Our approach focuses on the analysis of spatial relationships between three environmental (i.e., surface temperature, air pollution, vegetation cover) and two socio-demographic variables (i.e., household wealth, population density) on multiple grain sizes and extents. We used census data, remote sensing data, and air pollution monitoring stations to generate raster layers at five grain sizes and five nested extents. We tested for inequalities through Pearson correlation analysis resulting in a total of 1530 assessed relationships. Our results show that environmental inequalities are a prevalent phenomenon in the city of Santiago, but the details of these inequalities are highly scale dependent. Changing the grain size and extent of analysis do not only affect the strength of relationships between socio-demographic and environmental variables, but also the spatial distribution of environmental inequalities across the urban landscape. Therefore, due to the scale-dependence of assessment results, researchers and decision-makers should be extremely careful when interpreting their findings and translating them into policy making. If the scale dependency of environmental inequalities is not taken into account, policy interventions may be largely ineffective because the scale at which interventions are designed may not match the scale at which inequalities are generated. |
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| Keywords: | Ecological fallacy Environmental justice Environmental inequity MAUP Spatial inequalities Urban planning |
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