Flood and heat hazards in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile and the socio-economics of exposure

Abstract: In Santiago de Chile, the combination of recent urbanization patterns, the growing demand for land, and climate change has created challenges, notably in terms of the amplification of hazard generation and hazard exposure. This paper analyses the changes in land use/land cover, their impact on current flood and heat hazards, and the consequences for dwelling exposure. It adopts a hazard and exposure assessment approach to flood and heat hazard that allows for evaluation of the interlinkages and consequences of interweaving processes of urbanization and climate change in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago de Chile. The results clearly show that loss of green spaces and agricultural land to built-up areas goes hand in hand with the loss of important infiltration, cooling and retention areas, all of which leads to greater hazard exposure. The paper furthermore analyses the exposed population in terms of their material housing conditions. Surprisingly, those who are more likely to live in hazard-prone areas cannot be described exclusively as “the poor”, albeit there are striking differences between flood and heat exposure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]