Approaches toward an integrated fluvial–urban territory: exploring ecological function in the chilean planning ordinance

Abstract

In Chile, the Ordenanza General de Urba-nismo y Construcciones (OGUC) distinguis-hes between risk areas and the protection of natural value areas as differentiated te-rritorial domains. This separation has led to a form of regulatory fragmentation that dissociates risk from ecological function in fluvial systems where both processes coexist. Based on the results of a research-by-design exercise applied to the Andalién River (Concepción, Chile), together with a review of key literature on river restoration, landscape urbanism, and recent public policies, this pa-per proposes a reinterpretation of the OGUC through the concept of a hybrid fluvial–urban territory. This concept is articulated as a methodological and project-based unit that integrates an understanding of natural dyna-mics into planning practices. It is argued that this reading enables the alignment of the OGUC with in-ternational frameworks—such as those of the IPCC and the IUCN—and with consolidated experiences in river management grounded in the understanding of river dynamics, such as the Isar Plan and Room for the River. Taken together, this approach enables a form of resilient pla-nning aimed at overcoming in-stitutional fragmentation and the regulatory dichotomy between territorial exclusion based on risk and ecological preservation approaches.