Urban regulations on hillside areas in Latin American cities. Critical review of international policies and regulatory framework of Mendoza city, Argentina

Abstract

In recent decades, Latin American cities have experienced a marked increase as a direct result of the high population rate and the transformation of economic structures. In particular, the urban expansion in Mendoza, Argentina, has followed two directions: one toward the irrigated oasis, limited area of agricultural production and another to the west, on the hillsides with marked environmental vulnerability. In order to ensure the sustainability of the urban development in the Metropolitan Area of Mendoza - MAM, it is imperative to regulate its growth.

In this context, the present investigation makes a critical bibliographical revision of the worldwide existing norms on the piedmont, in order to detect patterns that have accompanied the urban growth of other piedmont cities, and to compare its guiding principles with those that have set the regulatory framework of Mendoza in order to discover its strengths and weaknesses. It is observed that although in the last thirty years, the province has tried to order this growth through a set of regulations; the urbanization of the piedmont does not contemplate its environmental vulnerability and induces a constant deterioration of the ecosystem.

Finally, the present research aims to systematize the state of the art and contribute in an original way to the development of regulations that contribute to the sustainability of the urban expansion in piedmont area.