Slum Upgrading and Risk Reduction: A Case Study of Colombian Cities Open Access
Carter, Jacqueline (2017)
Abstract
Background: The Latin America and the Caribbean region
has nine of the world's top 20 countries that are most exposed to
disasters, making the region the most disaster prone in the world.
The region is farther characterized by the amount of people living
in urban centers that continue to grow rapidly. As the cities
continue to grow so do the socio-economic inequalities and the
formation of informal settlements on the peripheries of the cities.
Informal settlements or ‘slums' typically form on land that
is uninhabitable and unstable and lack access to basic services and
government involvement. This makes them particularly vulnerable to
natural disasters.
Methods: Case studies of 4 Colombian cities were chosen as
the method to explore potential mitigation strategies for slum
communities in the event of a natural disaster. Colombia was chosen
because it is widely considered a leader in disaster risk
management in urban settings in Latin America 5 cities in Colombia
were chosen to display work being done to manage risks to natural
disasters: Bogota, Cali, Manizales and Medellin. Similar
information was gathered for each city in order to present the city
in context. Based on findings, a set of recommendations was made in
order to show case common things for each of the cities that proved
to make their strategies more effective.
Results: Bogota, Cali, Manizales, and Medellin have made
significant steps to reduce the vulnerability to natural disasters
in urban settings. Key stakeholders have included the national and
local governments, community members, and non-governmental
organizations. Strategies have included holistic approaches that
address more than just the infrastructure of the informal
settlements, with an aim at addressing some of the root
causes.
Discussion: One of the main things that makes Colombia
unique in their risk reduction strategies has been the countries'
ability to make decisions at the national level and put them in
motion to the point where they are being carried out at the local
level. While there is no one solution, effective strategies for
reducing risks in informal settlements were found to be similar to
those of development strategies: reducing vulnerability and
increasing resiliency. Multi-level involvement, holistic
approaches, community participation, and investment contributed to
the effectiveness of the strategies.
Table of Contents
Definition of Terms
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Rationale
1.2 Problem Statement
1.3 Project Purpose
1.4 Significance Statement
Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Natural Disasters
2.2 Latin America and Caribbean and Natural Disasters
2.3 Urbanization in Latin America
2.4 Slums
2.5 Risk Reduction
2.6 Risk Reduction in Slums
Chapter 3: Methods
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Limitations
Chapter 4: Results- Case Studies
4.1 Bogotoa
4.2 Cali
4.3 Manizales
4.4 Medellin
Chapter 5: Discussion
References
About this Master's Thesis
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