In Chilean law ''borde costero'' (lit. "coastal border") is defined as; "the said strip of territory that include the

public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Commonwealth realms). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. ...

, the ''playas'', the bays, gulfs, straits and interior channels, and the

territorial sea Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...

of the republic,

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

makes up a geographic and physical unit of special importance for the integral and harmonic development of the country." The land area within the highest tide, or annual lake level high, and up to 80 m inland from this level is known as the ''playa'' (lit. "beach") of ''borde costero''. The concept of the ''playa'' is based on article 594 of the Chilean Civil Code and this condition is independent of the actual ground type. The decree formally defining ''borde costero'' and many of its regulations was issued in December 1994. Its scope is based on an interpretation of the

Chilean Civil Code The Civil Code of the Republic of Chile (''Código Civil de la República de Chile'', also referred to as the ''Code of Bello'') is the work of jurist and legislator Andrés Bello. After several years of individual work (though officially present ...

. ''Borde costero'' is considered a ''

sui generis ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind" or "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". It denotes an exclusion to the larger system an object is in relation to. Several disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. ...

'' definition without equivalents in legislation outside Chile. The Subsecretariat of the Armed Forces is tasked with granting concessions in ''borde costero'' except in rivers and lakes that have not been declared navigable for ships over 100 tons where municipal administrations do so. The Chilean regulations regarding ''borde costero'' have been criticized as failing to balance competing

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

interests such as port facilities, real estate development, and environmental and landscape conservation, leading to a total dominance of the two former. Regulations are also criticized for lacking citizen participation mechanisms. The coast of

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 Regions of Chile, first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , the region is Chile's sec ...

in particular has been the site of socio-environmental conflicts, and environmental and landscape degradation attributed to real estate development allowed by the ''borde costero'' regulations. Various

coastal wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor (anoxic) processes taking place, especially in ...

s and

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s in Valparaíso Region have been urbanized since 1994, for example, those in the area between

Concón Concón is a Chilean city and commune in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. It is a major tourist center known for its beaches, ''balnearios'' (beachside resorts) and night life. Geography The commune of Concón spans an area of . It ...

and Reñaca. In May 2023 the National Commission on the Use of Borde Costero announced that the concept of ''borde costero'' will be replaced for that of ''zona costera''. Reportedly the change has been made to widen the geographical scope of regulations beyond beaches and 80 m inland from the highest tide.

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References

Maritime law Coastal geography Coasts of Chile Land law 1994 in Chilean law {{Law-stub

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