Mapping Energy Poverty: How Much Impact Do Socioeconomic, Urban and Climatic Variables Have at a Territorial Scale?

Abstract

Energy poverty, considered a form of deprivation distinct from income poverty, is associated with three factors: low-income levels, high energy costs, and poor residential energy efficiency. It is necessary to study the socio-spatial distribution of energy poverty, particularly in metropolitan areas, due to persistent socioeconomic segregation and their public agenda implications, including the U.N. SDGs. A model of these characteristics can propose a spatial analysis of urban and climate implications, contributing evidence for public policy. This article aims to address energy poverty from a spatial approach extended to the urban area in Santiago de Chile through an exploratory model that estimates the impact of socioeconomic, urban, and climatic variables at a territorial scale on the performance of homes. Using a geographical weighted regression with the inside home temperature in winter as the dependent variable, the independent variables were the percentage of professionals, NDVI, annual thermal amplitude, and housing material quality. A housing quality pattern that acts as a proxy for vulnerability to energy poverty was found, repeating the distribution pattern of the different socioeconomic sectors. The findings incorporate a new interpretive matrix into the complex reproduction of segregation and inequality in a capital city from a developing country.