URBAN VULNERABILITY RELATED TO RISKS, NATURAL DISASTERS AND GLOBAL WEATHER CHANGE HAD READDRESSED THE DEVELOPMENT AND SPRAWL OF OUR CITIES. THE RECORDS OF IMPACTS AND LOSES, PARTICULARLY RELATED TO HUMAN LIVES, ARE EVIDENCES OF MAGNITUDE AND EFFECTS ON HUMAN POPULATION, AND SOME 254 MILLIONS OF INHABITANTS ARE AFFECTED PER YEAR BY AN AVERAGE OF 250 DISASTERS ON THE WORLD EVERY YEAR.THIS ARTICLE IS PARTICULARLY FOCUSED ON DICHATO, IN THE COUNCIL OF TOMÉ, BIOBÍO REGION, CHILE; AND IS TAKEN AS CASE STUDY TO ANALYZE THE PLANS, PROGRAMS AND ACTIONS THAT MADE POSSIBLE THE COMMUNITY ACTIONS THAT ALSO MADE THE PEOPLE MORE AWARE OF THE TSUNAMI EFFECTS. THIS LOCALITY IS MORE RESILIENT TODAY AND HAS A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI THAT DEVASTATED ITS URBAN AREA IN FEBRUARY 27TH 2010.

ON THE NIGHT OF 27 FEBRUARY 2010, AT 3:34 AM, CHILEANS WERE GENTLY SLEEPING IN THEIR HOMES, WHEN SUDDENLY EVERYTHING WAS SHATTERED BY TREMORS AND DESTRUCTION, ALL LEADING TOWARD A HUMAN TRAGEDY. AN 8.8-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE STRUCK THE COUNTRY, TOPPLING BUILDINGS AND DRIVING THOUSANDS FIRST INTO THE STREETS AND LATER TO EMERGENCY SHELTERS. THE EARTHQUAKE, THE SIXTH LARGEST EVER RECORDED, TRIGGERED THE SECOND LARGEST TSUNAMI IN THE COUNTRY´S HISTORY, WHICH RIPPED HOUSES OFF THEIR FOOTINGS, WIPED OUT THE URBAN FABRIC AND TURNED BUILDINGS INTO DEBRIS, LEAVING BEHIND MASSIVE DESTRUCTION. SOME 24 TOWNS AND CITIES WERE FLOODED EITHER ON OR NEAR THE SHORELINE AND 800 KM OF COASTLINE WERE HEAVILY IMPACTED BY THE TSUNAMI; NATURE?S POWERFUL ONE-TWO PUNCH KILLED 524 PEOPLE AND CHANGED THE LIVES OF MILLIONS. HAVING OBSERVED THESE VIOLENT EFFECTS AND CHANGES, IT COULD BE POSSIBLE TO DIMINISH IMPACTS BY EDUCATING AND WARNING THE POPULATION THAT IS EXPOSED TO RISK. TO DO SO, RISK MAPS SHOULD BE MADE AND RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES IMPLEMENTED. CREATING RESILIENT COMMUNITIES MUST BE A PRIORITY, IN ADDITION TO MAKING THEM AWARE OF FUTURE EVENTS, BUT ALSO EMPHASIS MUST BE PLACED ON THE RECOVERY OF A SENSE OF BELONGING WITH A MORE COMPREHENSIVE URBAN DESIGN.

ENERGY POVERTY (EP) OCCURS WHEN THERE ARE NO ENERGY SERVICES AVAILABLE OR NOT AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE, OR WHEN HOMES ARE NOT CAPABLE OF MAINTAINING MINIMUM THERMAL COMFORT CONDITIONS. IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH A SERIES OF ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES FOR THE PEOPLES HEALTH AND WITH A HIGHER NUMBER OF DEATHS IN WINTER IN MOST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS RESEARCH WAS TO STUDY WHETHER THE THERMAL COMFORT LEVELS, THE STATE OF THE DWELLINGS, THE HEATING SYSTEMS, THE ENERGY EXPENSES, THE RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES AND THE MEDICAL EXPENSES REPORTED BY SOCIAL HOUSING INHABITANTS IN CENTRAL-SOUTH CHILE, WERE CORRELATED, TO DETERMINE WHICH VARIABLES OR COMBINATION OF VARIABLES ARE MORE RELATED WITH EP SITUATIONS. TO DEFINE THE THERMAL COMFORT LIMITS, A RECENTLY PUBLISHED ADAPTIVE THERMAL COMFORT MODEL FOR LOW INCOME HOUSING IN CHILE WAS USED. THE RESULTS SHOW THAT A THIRD OF THOSE SURVEYED WERE NOT CAPABLE OF KEEPING THEIR HOME COMFORTABLE FOR AT LEAST 80% OF THE TIME AND MORE THAN A FIFTH WERE INCAPABLE OF DOING SO 65% OF THE TIME. ONLY 10% OF THOSE WHO WERE CAPABLE OF KEEPING COMFORT LEVELS MORE THAN 90% OF THE TIME, SPEND LESS THAN US$ 40 A MONTH, WHICH REPRESENTS 10% OF THE MINIMUM CHILEAN WAGE. REDUCING THE TIME THAT TEMPERATURES ARE BELOW THE LOWER COMFORT LIMIT TO 10% CAN MEAN A REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES AND MEDICAL EXPENSES.

LATIN AMERICA IS THE MOST CRIMINOGENIC REGION OF THE WORLD FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF MURDER ACCORDING TO STUDIES BY INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES. THIS PROBLEM AFFECTS PHENOMENA SUCH AS DRUG TRAFFICKING AND ORGANIZED CRIME AMONG OTHERS. SINCE THE YEAR 2000, INTERVENTIONS IN LATIN AMERICA TO REDUCE CRIME AND FEAR OF CRIME, BASED ON SITUATIONAL PREVENTION STRATEGIES AND CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (CPTED) MODIFICATIONS TO THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT AS WELL AS THE SOCIAL NETWORK OF CERTAIN AREAS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED. HOWEVER THERE IS NO IMPACT ASSESSMENT MODEL OF SUCH INTERVENTIONS. THIS RESEARCH ADVANCES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF SITUATIONAL AND CPTED PREVENTION STRATEGIES IN HIGHLY VULNERABLE NEIGHBORHOODS IN LATIN AMERICA AND EVIDENCE IT WITH EARLY CASE STUDIES.

IN RECENT YEARS, INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS AT THE PERIPHERIES OF LATIN AMERICAN CITIES HAVE EXPERIENCED INCREASED POPULATION GROWTH. BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT SUSTAINABILITY IS THE CAPACITY OF A SYSTEM TO LAST OVER TIME, THIS ARTICLE PRESENTS A METHODOLOGY THAT WAS DEVELOPED TO DEFINE AND VALIDATE A SET OF INDICATORS TO EVALUATE SUSTAINABILITY IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS. THESE INDICATORS BECAME INPUTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEIGHBOURHOOD IMPROVEMENT PLANS THAT ARE SUSTAINABLE AND THAT ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOODS? INHABITANTS. THE RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED USING A BLENDED METHODOLOGY THAT INCLUDES A BIBLIOGRAPHIC REVIEW, A DEFINITION OF INDICATORS, THE SELECTION OF TWO INFORMAL COMMUNITIES AS CASE STUDIES, AND THE VALIDATION OF THE INDICATORS BY A PANEL OF EXPERTS. THE RESULT WAS A SET OF 13 SPECIFIC INDICATORS APPLICABLE TO THE NEIGHBOURHOODS STUDIED. THIS METHODOLOGY CAN BE USED IN OTHER INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN BOGOTA AND OTHER LATIN AMERICAN CITIES.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT NATURAL RESOURCES FOR THE URBAN SUSTAINABILITY IS WATER. FOR THIS REASON, THE INCORPORATION OF APPROPRIATE STRATEGIES TO MANAGE WATER RESOURCES FROM BUILDINGS AND URBAN PLANNING IS NECESSARY. IN THIS WORK A SERIES OF PARAMETRIC CRITERIA ARE DEFINED, WITH WHICH BY USING DESIGN SOFTWARE IT PROPOSED GENERATING OPTIMAL FORMS IN CERTAIN SCENARIOS FOR HIGH HYDRIC PERFORMANCE IN URBAN RESIDENTIAL COMPLEXES. THE EXAMPLES DEVELOPED DEMONSTRATES STRONG INFLUENCES OF DWELLING DENSITY BY THE CONSTRUCTION BLOCK AND PERMEABLE OUTDOOR SURFACES, AS WELL AS LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR WATER RECOVERING

THE CHANGES THE TERRITORY AND THE LANDSCAPE HAVE BEEN THROUGH AFTER THE TSUNAMI ON FEBRUARY 27, 2010 HAVE BEEN QUITE SIGNIFICANT: SOME URBAN NUCLEUSES WERE PRACTICALLY "WIPED OUT" BY THE HYDRODYNAMIC POWER OF THE WATER, OTHERS MANAGED TO SURVIVE BECAUSE OF VARIOUS GEOGRAPHICAL ACCIDENTS OR CONSTRUCTION-RELATED FACTORS. LEAVING THOSE PLACES BASED IN THE CHILEAN COAST AND WHICH ARE UNDER A CLEAR RISK OF TSUNAMI RESULTS IN AN UNTHINKABLE POSSIBILITY GIVEN THAT MANY CITIES IN THE COUNTRY ARE BUILT ON THE COASTAL REGION AND THEIR SOCIAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS ARTICULATED BY THEIR MARINE CONTEXT. NEVERTHELESS, 50 YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE 1960 VALDIVIA EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI TOOK PLACE- THE MOST POWERFUL EVER RECORDED RATING 9.5 IN RICHTER MAGNITUDE SCALE- TO CARRY OUT A REGULAR SOIL TYPE USE ASSESSMENT ON THE BASIS OF EARTHQUAKE RISK. EVEN THOUGH GOVERNMENT POLICIES HAVE NOT RESULTED TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE TO FACE ONE OF THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE NATURAL DISASTERS, IT IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO ASSURE THE HUMAN CAPITAL, BUILD MITIGATION BARRIERS, SET UP RESILIENT COMMUNITIES, IMPLEMENT EDUCATION PROGRAMMES AND EVACUATION PLANS AS WELL AS SUGGEST PLATFORMS OF FUTURE DEVELOPMENT. THE AFOREMENTIONED, ALL TOGETHER, CONSTITUTES SOME OF THE MAIN PREMISES TO ASSURE QUALITY LIFE IN A WIDE PART OF OUR COUNTRY. THIS APPROACH WILL UNDOUBTEDLY CHANGE THE WAY THE COASTLINE IS INHABITED AND GENERATE NEW PERCEPTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR A SOCIETY STILL LIVING A POST-DISASTER MOURNING TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY INTEGRATED FROM THE RECONSTRUCTION PROCESS TO A COMPREHENSIVE RECUPERATION IN WHICH SOCIAL CAPITAL WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE LEADING PARTICIPANT.

TAKING AS REFERENCE THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE EXPANSION PHENOMENON OF MEDELLIN AND THE ANTHROPOGENIC PROCESSES BASED ON MORAVIA'S NEIGHBORHOOD, THIS PAPER PURPOSE IS TO MAKE AN IMPACT EVALUATION OF THE INTEGRAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (PPMIM 2004-2011), USING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE URBAN DESIGN FEATURES AND THE SOCIAL CAPITAL VARIABLES. INITIALLY, A THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE VARIOUS TOPICS UNDER REVIEW IS PRESENTED. SECONDLY, WE CONFRONT THE PPMIM'S PRINCIPLES, ITS URBAN DESIGN STRATEGIES, ITS PROCEDURAL METHODOLOGY WITH THE BUILT PROJECT AND EVALUATE ITS GENERAL SOCIO SPATIAL IMPACT. FINALLY, WE ANALYZE ITS IMPACT ON THE COGNITIVE AND STRUCTURAL DIMENSIONS OF THE SOCIAL CAPITAL. THE INTEGRAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (PPMIM) BROUGHT THE PHYSICAL, ECOLOGICAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL REHABILITATION OF THE HUMAN SETTLEMENT ALLOWING RECOVERING THE HISTORICAL AS WELL AS THE CULTURAL MEMORY OF THE COMMUNITY AND STRENGTHENING SOME ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL CAPITAL AND ITS TIES, AS THE BRIDGING AND LINKING NETWORKS. FINALLY THE PAPER HIGHLIGHTS AND SUMMARIZES POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS OF SLUM UPGRADING PROGRAMS AND SOME NECESSARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR URBAN DESIGN, THE SOCIAL CAPITAL THAT CAN REALLY BE TRANSLATED INTO REAL RESOURCES FOR THE SELF-SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES AND THEIR FUTURE GENERATIONS.