Abstract

The monitoring of the impact of cities on sustainable development initiatives has led several nations to adopt the use of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) instrument to enhance environmental management efforts. The use of indicators within this process is essential since they enable authorities to monitor and mitigate any adverse effects that may arise as a consequence of urbanization. Over a decade after the implementation of this instrument in Chile, a review of the indicators used in the SEA framework to monitor the impacts of urban planning has yet to be executed. Since there is no standardization of indicators under Chilean regulations, this study applied international classifications including the Pressure-State-Response indicator framework devised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in addition to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard 37120. Under these criteria, the environmental-monitoring indicators utilized in the most populous regions in Chile were classified. Results show a limited use of indicators that can be categorized as related to urban-focused environmental monitoring. This paper concludes by posing certain questions that should be considered for future improvements to monitoring impacts generated by urbanization.