Abstract
This article analyses the governance patterns of post-disaster public action carried out after Hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel hit Coyuca de Benítez in 2013, a municipality that is part of the Metropolitan Area of Acapulco, Mexico, seeking to contribute towards broadening knowledge about the modes of governance of intermediate cities, and in particular, those related to disaster risk reduction. Conceptually, the concept of adaptive governance is presented to contrast and reflect on prevailing governance patterns in Coyuca. Methodologically speaking, this work is based on the sociology of public action, to analyse the reconstruction processes of infrastructure, public services, and housing, through interviews, focus groups, and diverse written sources. This paper argues that, despite the decentralization and democratization efforts of recent decades, governance patterns are highly centralized and not very adaptive, limiting the development of participatory and articulated interventions that meet people's daily needs and improve their quality of life. In this context, public action, rather than reducing disaster risks, has increased and/or generated new risks in already precarious and vulnerable urban territories. Along the same vein, this paper questions the relevance of regulatory and conceptual frameworks, such as adaptive governance, to guide significant changes, given the distance between ideal and existing governance patterns in the territories.
Highlights
This article analyses the governance patterns of post-disaster public action carried out after Hurricanes Ingrid and Manuel hit Coyuca de Benítez in 2013, a municipality that is part of the Metropolitan Area of Acapulco, Mexico, seeking to contribute towards broadening knowledge about the modes of governance of intermediate cities, and in particular, those related to disaster risk reduction
Speaking, this work is based on the sociology of public action, to analyse the reconstruction processes of infrastructure, public services, and housing, through interviews, focus groups, and diverse written sources
This paper argues that, despite the decentralization and democratization efforts of recent decades, governance patterns are highly centralized and not very adaptive, limiting the development of participatory and articulated interventions that meet people’s daily needs and improve their quality of life
Summary
Ingrid y Manuel en 2013, en Coyuca de Benítez -municipio que forma parte de la Zona Metropolitana de Acapulco, México-, buscando contribuir a expandir el conocimiento sobre los modos de gobernanza de las ciudades intermedias y, en particular, aquellos relacionados con la reducción del riesgo de desastre. El municipio de Coyuca de Benítez ha tenido un menor crecimiento poblacional y una menor expansión urbana; no obstante, la zona entre las ciudades de Acapulco y Coyuca, considerada por este estudio como sistema urbano-lagunar, Además, plantea que, para transitar hacia estructuras de gobernanza adaptativas o experimentales (Kenward et al, 2011; Li et al, 2017), se requiere crear mecanismos y comunidades para monitorear de forma continua las estructuras organizativas y sus procesos. Esta experiencia es relevante para dicha exploración ya que la ZMA presenta rasgos propios de los asentamientos de menos de un millón de habitantes alrededor del mundo, marcados por capacidades institucionales limitadas y un crecimiento urbano importante que demandan la conformación de patrones de gobernanza alternativos
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