FROM DISASTER MITIGATION TO INTERRUPTING RISK TRAPS: THE ACTION-LEARNING EXPERIENCE OF CLIMA SIN RIESGO

Abstract

The last decades have witnessed a profound change in our understanding of the conditions of risk in urban contexts. However, we still face significant conceptual, methodological and empirical challenges in capturing the vicious cycles of risk accumulation that often render so-called ‘urban risk traps’ invisible. We define risk traps as the result of the reproduction of everyday risks and frequent small-scale disasters, which have highly localized impacts and disproportionately affect impoverished inhabitants. Based on the action-research project cLIMA without Risk (cLIMA sin riesgo), which was conducted by the authors in the context of two marginalized areas in the centre and periphery of Lima, Peru, this article explores the conditions that produce and reproduce these risk traps and it analyses how and where they materialize, who they affect and with what consequences. The discussion examines how spatial knowledge of urbanization at risk together with a critical evaluation of inhabitants’ and state agencies’ investments in mitigation efforts allows us to move towards a more accurate assessment of the impact of these risk traps over time, which is required for developing transformative strategies to disrupt them.