With a population of 521,627 inhabitants (according to the 2017 census) Maipú is the second most populous commune in Chile, after Puente Alto. The commune is located in the plains of the Maipo river next to some small hills or island hills, with appearances of the Cordillera de la Costa. Its geographic coordinates are 33° 32' south latitude and 70° 46' west longitude and is located 488 meters above sea level. It has an area of 135.5 km2, which corresponds to 6.7% of the Province of Santiago. Maipú is crossed by the Mapocho River, its tributary Zanjón de la Aguada, and 132 small agricultural canals.
Main environmental challenges faced by the city
Even though the commune has a total of 250 ha of green areas (making it the largest area in the entire country), it only has 5.92 m2 per inhabitant, according to a study carried out by the ‘Quiero mi parque’ foundation, which is well below what the WHO establishes of 9 m2/inhabitant.
On the other hand, the municipal mission establishes the need to build a more sustainable, dignified and fair Maipú, through cutting-edge municipal management and the active participation of the community, where one of the axes that guides this municipal management is the search for a sustainable Maipú that takes into account the climate crisis and adapts in favour of environmental protection.
NBS implemented or planned
In this context, the municipality is already carrying out some actions in this area, such as the 2023 arborization campaign, with 2,023 new trees for the commune and the declaration of an urban wetland of the Mapocho River for the protection of this valuable ecosystem, which will include a reforestation plan for its restoration.
Maipú has also a municipal environmental certification system, which establishes the need to implement various internal sustainability actions, which we want to implement based on nature-based solutions.
By joining the URBAN GreenUP community we seek to strengthen the capacities to develop projects of solutions based on nature that may lead to a more sustainable commune.