Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Achieving Urban Resilience: Understanding And Tackling Disasters From A Local Perspective, Christine Wamsler

Christine Wamsler

The damage caused by a dramatic worldwide increase in so-called natural disasters is staggering, with the poor in developing countries being most at risk. This paper analyses: (a) the key variables and their causal relations that underlie the complex system of risk and disaster occurrence in slums; (b) the impacts of disasters on slums; (c) the strategies used by local people to cope with risk and disasters; and (d) the reasons for weak coping. The views and knowledge of slum dwellers in El Salvador are the focus of this analysis. On this basis, five complementary ex ante risk-reduction measures have …