STABILITY CYCLES, AND FAST-SLOW CHANGES AND VARIABLES IN LANDSCAPES OF THE CONCEPCION METROPOLITAN AREA 1

Abstract

Landscapes can maximize their strengths in moments of stability by deeply developing their character and, thus, managing the pressures or disturbances behind slow and fast changes in the Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) to avoid their transformation. Fast variables explain short-term changes and violent rupture processes in stability/change cycles for natural disaster issues. On the other hand, slow variables explain long-term changes and more complex processes in stability/change cycles. The work below focused on studying the Concepción Metropolitan Area (AMC, in Spanish), Chile, which has undergone relevant changes throughout its history but has not been studied as an SES using its slow and fast variables. An exploratory literary review of 150 articles was made in scientific databases without using scientific support software, considering “Concepción” and “Concepción Metropolitan Area” as keyword The main results highlight short-term phenomena cycles -fast variables- with a major impact, exemplified in natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires, and drought), changes in urban planning (urban plans and hygienism), as well as long-term phenomena -slow variables-, with more notable impacts in certain key areas, namely political (conquest and war between indigenous/Spanish/Chilean peoples), economic (boom/bust of business cycles) and environmental (wetland intervention, creation of different protection laws).