Risk perception, risk management and vulnerability to landslides in the hill slopes in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. A preliminary statement.
The article begins by describing the difficult living conditions of many people in the hill slopes (laderas) of La Paz, Bolivia, demonstrating that they are exposed to a combination of natural and social hazards. It shows that residents, community leaders and city planners tend to underestimate or deny risk, with important consequences for risk management, such as a failure to raise risk awareness. The article then proposes some hypotheses to explain risk perceptions in La Paz, discarding the usual single-approach interpretations and suggesting instead more nuanced theoretical explanations to account for why people build their homes in such hazardous environments.
Nathan
Fabien
F
Graduate Institute of Development Studies (IUED), Geneva, Switzerland. Fabien.Nathan@iued.unige.ch
D001838:Bolivia; D004190:Disasters; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D055876:Landslides; D010465:Perception; D011639:Public Opinion; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012308:Risk Management; D014505:Urban Population