Seeing Santiago in spring or summer time from the top of one of the numerous hills that surround it reveals its particular distribution of green areas: north-east and central areas of the city are greener, contrasting with the rest of the city that turns more and more grey.
On a different scale, on the ground, this difference is noticed travelling from the southern and western areas towards the centre and the north-east: more and bigger trees, greener squares and parks, more grass in public spaces and lusher front gardens.
17 I am inspired by a report title about green spaces’ distribution in Greater Santiago produced by Atisba (2011), a
company dedicated to developing urban studies and projects.
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Santiago has a Mediterranean climate with a drought period that extends for about six months corresponding mainly with spring and summer (di Castri and Hajek "Jac, INE HI"c). The native vegetation—called sclerophyll—correspond with plants and trees adapted to long dry seasons. Originally Santiago does not present a dense green landscape with big leafy trees, plants and grass which speaks of having enough resources for watering and maintenance. It is not surprising, then, that the green spots appreciated from above in the following image tend to coincide with the wealthiest areas of the city (in the north-east):
Figure m.x Santiago de Chile, satellite image. Source: ©Google Earth LMjz.
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The pattern of the distribution of vegetation is not haphazard. It goes hand in hand with Santiago’s urbanization process. Walking around central places in Santiago (the red spot on the map above is the city centre) you can find parks, squares, and big trees. Most of them are inherited from the "Jth century. They are the result of the efforts of the political elites to transform Santiago into a modern city. By the end of the century, Santiago was a little town of around "PI thousand people(Rodríguez Vignoli "JJP, "II) of which only a tiny part lived in the urbanised city centre. The elites, whose economic power was based on mine activities and farm ownership, were the inhabitants of that sumptuous Santiago.
They lived in big houses that imitated European styles in vogue. Commonly, these little palaces 'were surrounded by gardens and parks that segregated them from the rest of the city’ (Gross "JJI, aX). Later, during the first half of the HIth century, the upper classes progressively abandoned the central area and moved to the north-east of the city. At the same time Santiago was growing: more and more people came from rural areas to live in the city. Therefore, taking advantage of the new possibilities the car allowed for moving across the city, the elites and the wealthy population started to look for more exclusive spaces to live where they could embrace the new suburban city model: the garden-city (Mora, Greene, and Berrios HI"I, "[).
It is possible to distinguish a sort of green trace the elites have left in the city through their residential movement looking for living in more exclusive spaces. Juan Onofre reflects about this. For him, big trees in those areas once or still inhabited by wealthy groups reveal that vegetation has been maintained and therefore, it means that there have been resources to do that. He says: '. . . in Ñuñoa [comuna] you find trees. You find these enormous pines with huge trunks that you realised were taken care of. They have probably been there since colonial times’. But not only economic means are needed to maintain green areas within the city. On another occasion, he continues by considering how
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people’s educational background is also related to the action of taking care of your environment:
They were looked after [the trees]. Also, people had a good education so they knew this natural resource was of great value; therefore, they took care of it . . . In those areas there is more money, there is also more education, there is more of everything and therefore, there is more heritage . . . Then you go to San Ramón [his comuna]
and there is no money, no education, no nothing. There are not big old houses because no important family lived there. Also, there is no knowledge or appraisal of what trees are.
This does not mean that only people with a good education and money care about trees and green spaces and the rest just ignore them. All the participants living in different neighbourhoods across the city acknowledged the importance of trees and vegetation in their experiences of moving through the city. The HI"H HDR for Chile on Subjective Wellbeing (PNUD HI"H) showed that the relative disengagement of lower income groups with natural urban spaces relates to time availability and resources prioritization, but not necessarily with not valuing them. People mention not being able even to worry about living in contact with natural spaces because they have more urgent issues to deal with daily: 'That was a privilege only a few people could enjoy and therefore, it is important but not essential for general wellbeing' ("PP). The report shows that low and middle-income groups identify nature with holidays and as an elite’s experience.
The massive difference in quantity and quality in vegetation across the city was pointed out by almost all my research participants across the range of socio-economic backgrounds. This perception is corroborated by data available. In Greater Santiago it is estimated an average of X,[ mH green areas per person (Atisba HI"", c). This rate is half below the J mH per person recommended by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The situation is more complex if we look at their distribution.
According to Sonia Reyes and Isabel Figueroa (HI"I) socio-economic condition strongly
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determines people’s access to green areas. For example, the four wealthiest comunas have PH,H% of the total of green spaces. This fact contrasts dramatically with the slightly less than X% of green spaces the four lowest income comunas have. In addition, the access and quality of those spaces vary significantly. Data available for the comunas where research participants live show a similar distribution:
Income Comuna m2/person
Moreover, this data on green spaces does not consider the smaller spatial units of road verges18 or front gardens that shape prominently the landscape when moving by foot. The scale and speed of walking allow for perceiving the environment in detail, therefore small units gain relevance. In wealthier neighbourhoods, as Juan Onofre says, even the quality of greenery is different because it is better kept. Comparing the still-montages of his walks through different neighbourhoods he coined the concept of ‘verde Ñuñoa’, which means
‘Ñuñoa’s kind of green’, to express the specific quality of the vegetation that grows in this middle-income area:
18 Space between road and sidewalk.
Figure m.jM Distribution of green areas per person in participants' comunas. Source: Atisba, LMjj.
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Figure 4.11 Still-montage: Juan Onofre showing 'Ñuñoa's green', October 2015.
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It is the greenery, the grass. The green… the green. It is simply Ñuñoa’s green.
Ñuñoa’s green! This has a Ñuñoa’s green kind of colour! Obviously, this colour can exist in every comuna, but for me, it is Ñuñoa’s green which is what I like about walking through these neighbourhoods. Could you notice if there was anything like this in mine [neighbourhood]? (Juan Onofre)
Having depicted the situation of green areas in Santiago, next I explore walkers’
relationships with greenery considering how its presence, absence, and qualities affect their pedestrian experiences and sense of places.