VULNERABILITY, RISK PERCEPTION AND RESILIENCE TO FLOODS

Relocation of an informal settlement in Arroyo del Gato, La Plata (flood 2013)

Abstract

The work addresses risk perception and the construction of resilience in precarious neighborhoods under environmental threat. Various questions guide the study: a vulnerable population exposed to floods, Does it perceive the risk but must expose themselves to danger to access the soil? Does it perceive the risk as a natural condition of their environment? How do they build resilience? Does it exists (per se) or is it acquired with the water and/or housing emergency? To answer them, the behavior of the neighbors of an Informal Settlement of Arroyo del Gato who faced the 2013 flood of the La Plata District and who, due to the need to build a structural hydraulic work, were relocated, is analyzed. Through a semi-structured interview, different perspectives on the matter were explored: the state, the academic and the community. This instrument can be replicated in other informal settlements in danger, to know the status of the situation and collaborate in risk management.