Santiago Metropolitan Park

Parque Metropolitano de Santiago
View of San Cristóbal Hill, a large part of the park.
Map
TypeUrban park
LocationSantiago, Chile
Coordinates33°25′25″S 70°37′57″W / 33.42361°S 70.63250°W / -33.42361; -70.63250
AreaApproximately 722 hectares (1,780 acres)[1]
Created1922–1927
Operated byMinistry of Housing and Urban Development Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo

The Santiago Metropolitan Park is an urban park located within the city of Santiago, capital of Chile. Consisting of the San Cristóbal, Chacarillas and Los Gemelos hills, and the areas of Tupahue, Lo Saldés, Pirámide and Bosque Santiago,[2] the park is located between four communes of Santiago – Huechuraba, Providencia, Recoleta and Vitacura – and covers around 722 hectares, making it the largest urban park of the Americas and one of the largest in the world.[3]

The Santiago Metropolitan Park also maintains 16 Urban Parks distributed throughout 13 communes in Santiago, a total area of almost 150.1 hectares. The maintenance work is carried out through “Urban Parks’ Conservation, Maintenance and Safety” projects which involve cleaning, irrigation, replantation and management of vegetal species, maintenance of urban equipment, sanitation control, weed control, fertilization and safety among other activities.[4]

The park was created in April 1966, when incorporating the Chilean National Zoo and the services of San Cristóbal Hill, and is managed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.[5] In September, 2012, the Chilean government launched a plan to significantly refurbish and expand the park between 2012 and 2016, a plan which includes building new footpaths, planting 100,000 more trees and expanding the National Zoo.[6]

  1. ^ Parque Metropolitano de Santiago – Quiénes somos
  2. ^ Parque Metropolitano de Santiago (s/f). Parque Metropolitano de Santiago - Quiénes somos (PHP). www.parquemet.cl. In Spanish. Retrieved November 14, 2012
  3. ^ Metropolitan Park. Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo. In Spanish.
  4. ^ Urban Parks. Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo. In Spanish.
  5. ^ Parque Metropolitano. Ministerio de Vivienda y Urbanismo.
  6. ^ Gobierno lanza Plan Bicentenario e invertirá $22 mil millones en Parque Metropolitano. La Tercera. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.