Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
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Preferred name
Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago
Main Affiliation
Quito
Email
santiagobonilla@uti.edu.ec
ORCID
Scopus Author ID
55360745200

Research Output
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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Forests and urban green areas as tools to address the challenges of sustainability in Latin American urban socio-ecological systems

2020 , Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago , Estrella A. , Santos F. , Herrera M.Á.

One sustainability challenge is confronting the process of global urbanization considering wellbeing and environmental justice. Integrating different disciplines to describe and analyze the relationships of urban socio-ecological systems gives us useful empirical tools to formulate policies and programs in urban planning considering their spatial dimension. The objective of this study is to present a model that integrates and explains the socio-ecological urban relations of a Latin American city considering three high-level approaches: forestry, geography, and psychology. Thus, we defined four factors: a) urban forest and green areas; b) urban spatial segregation; c) perceived restoration; and d) subjective wellbeing. For these, we grouped 16 measured variables and collected them with three specific procedures: a) SPOT remote sensors and object-based classification of urban coverage; b) analysis of geospatial data with census information; and c) field surveys. We applied descriptive multivariate statistics and also proposed a structural equation model (SEM) that integrates all the variables and data. We found that the factor “urban green areas” had a direct positive relationship with the factors “urban spatial segregation” and “perceived restoration.” We observed that urban green areas were meeting spaces between different socioeconomic categories, reducing segregation and multiplying opportunities for the psychological restoration of citizens. However, we found no evidence that green areas are related to subjective wellbeing. The model quantified the socio-ecological relationships produced by combining various factors of urban socio-ecological systems, suggesting the benefits of this method to generate knowledge towards planning and managing Latin American cities. Our results are encouraging in terms of environmental justice and wellbeing. In developing countries where forecasts indicate rising urban populations, the need to establish planning processes based on scientific information is vital to meet the challenges of sustainability in the twenty-first century. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

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Quito'S Urban Imaginaries: Between Conserved and Intervened Green Spaces

2021 , Montero, D. , Estrella A. , Oleas N. , Cruz J. , Salazar L. , Santos F. , Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago

This manuscript presents the results of field research aimed to identify the perceptions that condition the urban imaginaries addressing the green spaces in Quito, Ecuador. Two focus groups were carried out with experts in designing green spaces. The results were evaluated through discourse analysis, applying the dialectical hermeneutical method, to finally establish open, axial, and selective categories. Six categories allow the understanding of the imaginaries associated with the city's green spaces: conserved or intervened spaces, public and private spaces, and individual and collective subjectivity in relation to green areas; also relevant are the interventions of actors such as the state, the real estate market, and the community in the management of these spaces. In the city, conserved green spaces, such as urban and peri-urban forests, are for contemplative use and would be less attractive to the population than provoked green spaces, the latter of which are characterized by facilitating human interaction and by having the direct intervention of public institutions. The identification of public and private green spaces was related to potential forms of urban segregation. Participants stated that privileged social groups have direct access to customized architectural designs, whereas community organizations manage these spaces through social action. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

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Modelling the relationship between urban expansion processes and urban forest characteristics: An application to the Metropolitan District of Quito

2020 , Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago , Mora A., Vaca A. , Estrella A. , Herrera M.Á.

The rapid process of global urbanisation engenders changes in urban socio-ecological systems and in the landscape structure. However, the future processes of urban expansion in Latin American cities has been little studied even though the wellbeing of its citizens will depend on territorial management and on planning the provision of ecosystemic benefits and services. This research, considering different socio-ecological dimensions, proposed to determine the causes of potential urban expansion, analysing the dimensions and possible predictors that would explain the expansion of a high Andean city and its influence on peri-urban forest landscapes. To develop a model that integrates the complexity of the system, we used the following five dimensions: biophysics, land cover and management, infrastructure and services, socio-economics, and landscape metrics, and we opted for a binomial analysis through a spatial logistic regression model developed from 33 predictors. Considering the odd radio of the model, we observe that the independent increase in predictors, including building blocks, drinking water, sewerage, waste collection, average land size, the Interspersion and Juxtaposition Index (IJI) and Largest Patch Index (LPI), and the constant behaviour of the others predictors, would increase the probability of a potential urbanisation of the territory. Similarly, the independent increase in predictors, including the presence of protected areas, the presence of protected forests, land cover, unemployment, and the Shannon Diversity Index(SHDI), reduce the probability of the urbanisation process. Our results suggest that the territorial vulnerability from a potential urbanisation process is strongly related to an increase in infrastructure, services, and the average size of properties variables. Moreover, the landscape with the greatest potential for urbanisation presents an adequate intercalation of the different patches that compose it. However, the presence of variables such as protected areas and protective forests, in addition to monitoring indicators such as landscape diversity and mitigation strategies, could be considered to focus the analysis on the current dynamics of urbanisation processes in Latin America. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

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Urban socio-ecological dynamics: applying the urban-rural gradient approach in a high Andean city

2020 , Bonilla Bedoya, Santiago , Estrella A. , Vaca Yánez A. , Herrera M.Á.

The urban-rural dichotomy and the simple cause-effect relationship do not allow establishing specific criteria for territorial management from a socio-ecological perspective. The gradient approach could be a powerful tool to understand urban socio-ecological dynamics. This research applied a methodological protocol to obtain urban-rural gradients while considering the specific characteristics of a mid-size Andean city. To achieve this goal, a mixed classification process was applied to a Landsat 8 image. Subsequently, a factor analysis (FA) grouped 25 urbanisation variables. Finally, we applied agglomerative hierarchical clustering. FA established four factors that explained (72%) of the urbanisation metrics’ variation. From this information, we obtained factor maps and a gradient map. The resulting map differentiated six gradients that contrast with the city’s territorial planning based on the urban-rural dichotomy. This study is a starting point to apply the gradient approach in land-use management and urban ecology planning for Andean cities. © 2019, © 2019 Landscape Research Group Ltd.

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