The spatial structure of the park, designed by Osvaldo Moreno and Martinez & Asociados, is based on a large central meadow with wetlands, flood plains and forests. Around it there is a perimeter ring of public access, themed plazas, multifunctional services and recreational areas, which are connected by paths, which compartmentalize the hydroecological system of the park.
The canals, wetlands and flood areas retain and collect all the rainwater, avoiding flooding caused by extreme rainfall. The project accentuates the existing depressions with gradients of riparian vegetation that favor habitat conditions for animals, birds, amphibians and insects.
Currently the park has become a multicultural public space where various cultural activities and emerging projects of education, research and innovation can be carried out. The program includes ceremonial and commemorative sites to promote Mapuche traditions and also to make visible the collective memory of the victims who lost their lives in the 1970s, promoting social integration in a regional context characterized by historical ethnic conflicts.
Cautín Island Urban Park by Osvaldo Moreno. Photograph by Philippe Blanc.
Project description by Osvaldo Moreno Flores
Objective
Conceived as a hydroecological infrastructure for urban resilience, the park is designed to recover the Cautín River landscape, promoting a significant impact in hydraulic, ecosystemic and socioeconomic terms at the communal and regional level, contributing to multicultural integration between traditions and contemporary Chilean society. Its spatial structure is defined by a large central meadow containing wetlands, floodplains, grasslands, forests and a programmatic ring on its perimeter, with a series of public accesses, thematic plazas, multifunctional services and recreational areas. All these programs are connected by a system of trails, which also allow compartmentalizing the hydroecological dynamics.
A sequence of floodplains, canals, ponds and wetlands retain and infiltrate urban runoff, contemplating a total retention volume of 78,000 m³, corresponding to a period of 100 years. Proposed as a natural solution to reduce the risk of flooding, this system is made up of earthworks that accentuate existing depressions. Its landscape design integrates vegetation gradients that favor habitat conditions for animals, birds, amphibians and beneficial insects, providing biodiversity and important ecosystem services.
On the other hand, as a multicultural public space, the park has been designed to promote social integration in a regional context characterized by historical ethnic conflicts with Mapuche communities and human rights violations during the military dictatorship. To this end, the program includes ceremonial and commemorative sites to promote Mapuche traditions and also to make visible the collective memory of the victims who lost their lives in the 1970s.
Context
The Cautín Island Urban Park is a 28-hectare public space located in the city of Temuco, on the banks of the Cautín River, an important hydrological and ecological corridor in the Araucanía region in southern Chile. Its name "island" refers to its condition as a "dry land" between two water courses, the Pichicautín estuary to the north and the Cautín River to the south, which have historically caused flooding in the city, a problem that has increased in intensity in the current context of climate change.
The park is located in an environment of symbolic importance for the Mapuche communities, due to the cultural significance of the river and ecosystems considered sacred for the medicinal properties of riparian trees and plants. Its location also coincides with former army training camps, whose restricted use has contributed to the conservation of native forest and grassland ecosystems in the midst of accelerated urban expansion processes that have fragmented much of the original riparian landscape.
On the other hand, this use allowed to remember traumatic events that occurred at the beginning of the military dictatorship in 1973, related to the arrest and execution of political prisoners. The landscape project of the Parque Urbano Isla Cautín arises in this environmental and cultural framework, in which the ecological memory of the site is linked to historical and contemporary sociocultural dynamics, in a regional context characterized by ethnic conflicts related to the coexistence of the Mapuche worldview with the Chilean-Western way of life.
Performance
Currently, the Cautín Island Urban Park is considered the most important, inclusive and versatile public space in the complex territorial context of Araucanía, attracting a high presence of visitors from different neighborhoods of Temuco, as well as from different towns and cities in southern Chile.
Progressively, the park is also becoming the main urban space to host mass events, such as concerts, fairs, cultural and sports activities. In addition, the analysis of a season of hydrometeorological events since its inauguration in April 2022 shows that the behavior of the park as a hydroecological infrastructure has been highly successful, not only from the perspective of its capacity for efficient water management, but also because of the social and cultural value that people have given to nature-based solutions.
The park is currently a hub for the development of various emerging projects in environmental education, research and innovation, which are developed through collaboration agreements with universities, public services and other local governments, giving rise to multiple initiatives related to water efficiency, agroecological management, composting, carbon sequestration, adaptation to climate change, environmental mitigation and compensation, among others. In this sense, it is possible to point out that the effects of the open and collaborative design strategies implemented in the project phase have positively transcended to the current moment of operation of the park, contributing to the sustainable management and governance of its spaces, programs, resources and ecosystem services.
