Sustainable Cities. From management to institutional valuation of urban trees and green spaces: Temuco-Padre Las Casas conurbation

Abstract

This article is part of an investigation that aims to analyzing institutional links and operations for the management of urban vegetation in Temuco and Padre Las Casas cities. The research is based on an analysis model that identifies tensions and problematic nodes in both cities, applying concepts of planning, integration, adaptation and legitimation. Ecosystem services are used as a concept that helps institutions to understand and to identify direct or indirect benefits that the urban ecosystem provides for human well - being and the socio - environmental conditions of the territory. Legally, Chilean municipalities have a dual core: they are State administration entities, with autonomous management capacities. The overlap of those qualities becomes a mechanism that stuck the territorial and urban dynamics for adequate management of urban vegetation.