Identifying the Social Urban Spatial Structure of Vulnerability: Towards Climate Change Equity in Bogotá

Vasco Barbosa,Mónica Marcela Suárez Pradilla

doi:10.17645/up.v6i4.4630

Abstract

The constant modification of land use, economic instability, environmental factors, and social behaviour changes among the inhabitants of big cities characterize current urbanism. In Colombia, land-use planning processes supported by geographical information systems are a recent phenomenon and the legal instruments of spatial planning are inadequate in most municipalities. Moreover, socio-spatial equity represents a challenge for Latin American cities in which there is increasing awareness of the role that spatial planning plays. Consequently, the question arises as to how the urban spatial structure and organization contribute to an inclusive and equitable socio-spatial evolution, considering climate change impacts. The case study analysed in this article focuses upon the northern limits of the city of Bogotá. Therefore, this research aims to define the ideal balance of urban land-use distribution between social stratum classification and the vulnerability of the communities seeking to better adapt to climate change. We propose a methodological approach of analysing spatial syntax and the (social) intensity of activities and infrastructure, which enables us to characterize the urban structure itself and identify vulnerable urban instances. As a result, we find that the urban network with low values presents spatial unpredictability in its pattern, constraining equitable development based on the urban morphology of the city. This research allows us to conclude that the degree of vulnerability encountered by the social urban spatial structure is higher in expansion areas than in central areas of the city.

Highlights

Urban metropolises and peripheral areas have experi‐ enced pressures and changes in land‐use, infrastructure, and loss of agricultural land (Shen et al, 2019), con‐ tinuing prioritization of short‐term growth as opposed to alternative approaches to sustainable urban growth to compact forms (Ahern, 1995; Menzori et al, 2021), Urban Planning, 2021, Volume 6, Issue 4, Pages 365–379 or through strategic spatial planning (Hersperger et al, 2018)
The peripheral cities usually have a propensity for lower economic cost of land‐use, regardless of their future urban functions. These char‐ acteristics can be related to elements that support the spatial build‐up of urban space, namely accessibility and connectivity through the mobility axes that make up the urban network (Jayasinghe et al, 2019)
Urban planning is relevant as an instrument of urban development in its various dimensions, there‐ fore municipalities need to draw up municipal land‐use plans which are as equitable as possible

Summary

Introduction

Urban metropolises and peripheral areas have experi‐ enced pressures and changes in land‐use, infrastructure, and loss of agricultural land (Shen et al, 2019), con‐ tinuing prioritization of short‐term growth as opposed to alternative approaches to sustainable urban growth to compact forms (Ahern, 1995; Menzori et al, 2021), Urban Planning, 2021, Volume 6, Issue 4, Pages 365–379 or through strategic spatial planning (Hersperger et al, 2018). These peripheral areas of urban sprawl have wit‐ nessed the greatest transformation dynamics (Aguilar, 2008; Guo et al, 2020). The urban informality partially characterizes the evolution of spatial structures in Latin America, such as in the case of natural hazards, that is, accidents that render some populations and zones of cities subject to greater human vulnerability (Gonzales & Magnaye, 2017; Unceta et al, 2020)

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