Torres Pinedo, Mara (2023) The role of networks in vulnerability and disaster risk governance of Mexico city. A mixed methods study with an intersectional approach. PhD thesis, University College London, UK.
Abstract
Intersecting inequalities and vulnerability dynamics are reshaping urban risk configurations around the world. Cities have become magnifiers of disaster risk as well as emerging arenas to understand, address and reconfigure risk management policies. It has been widely theorised and promoted by international platforms that effective disaster risk management (DRM) depends on good governance and decentralised approaches. However, the pertinence, adequacy and differentiated outcomes in different contexts and across scales continue to be understudied. This thesis is set in Mexico City in the aftermath of the 19th of September 2017 disaster (19S). It traces the multidimensional processes that interact in the production (and reproduction) of vulnerability and the role of DRM governance on people’s experiences of urban risks. The thesis explores how vulnerability has been produced in Mexico City due to inequalities marked by evolving socio-ecological dynamics. The central tenet is how DRM governance structures and relational disparities in Mexico City have shaped vulnerability and capacity in the context of disaster risk. With a mixed methods approach, this thesis explores the structure and dynamics of DRM networks, the way people connect with these networks to address disaster risks, and the influence of intersectional identities in people's connectivity, which could help to integrate more robust and inclusive DRM policies. To highlight the compound effect of different inequalities in the construction of vulnerability, the thesis explores how much intersections matter in people's capacity to access DRM networks to prevent, cope and recover from disasters. The findings contribute to local understandings and experiences of DRM governance to reduce inequalities that emerge from the lack of situated evidence of complex challenges, which ultimately contribute to risk and vulnerability. This thesis makes a case for mixed-methods social network analysis, as a relevant approach to the study of DRM governance, and intersectionality, as a critical lens and practice, for the study and practice of DRM.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Index terms: | configuration, vulnerability, evidence, disaster risk, connectivity, Mexico City, social network analysis, identity, risk management, inequality, dynamics, disparity, mixed method, platform, governance |
| Subjects: | business, risk assessment, data collection methods, systems engineering, sociology, evaluation and assessment methods, environmental hazards, social justice, networking, digital design, financial risk, Geography, research methods |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Sustainability, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Ethics, Governance, Cost Management, Research Practice, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here