Landscapes and Identities in Transformation: Co-creation for Sustainable Territorial Planning in Pichilemu, Chile

Abstract

In Chile, intermediate coastal cities face rapid changes driven by tourism, agricultural exploitation, and infrastructure development, often surpass-ing the capacity of regulatory frameworks and threatening ecological assets. This article analyzes Pichilemu, a coastal urban-rural municipality, to explore how green infrastructure (GI) planning can be co-created with local communities to enhance social cohesion and promote sustainable territorial development. The research uses qualitative and participatory methods, including residents’ perceptions of the natural and cultural landscape. Findings show that local communities value ecological and aesthetic aspects of their environment and are genuinely willing to participate in long-term planning processes. The study demonstrates that participatory GI planning can offer practical solutions for territorial re-configuration in vulnerable urban-rural settings. It argues that successful participatory ecological planning requires adapting actions to territorial characteristics and community dynamics, defining roles, methods, and logistics that ensure equity and sustainability. This case contributes to the growing international discussion on GI implementation in intermediate cities, emphasizing the importance of co-creation to align ecological sustainability with local identity.