Community mapping based on Milton Santos as a tool for disaster response and risk management in self-built communities: case study of El Pacífico, Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

AbstractThis paper aims to showcase the community mapping process that took place in the El Pacífico neighborhood in the city of Medellín, Colombia, which runs alongside the urban-rural border of the high slope of the city’s Comuna 8. The geographical and socio-economic challenges that the community has historically faced have come to light throughout the years in the form of geological hazards and disasters that have led to the destruction of several buildings in the neighborhood, threatening the community’s permanence.As these scenarios intensified, the community sought to participate in research projects with both local and international partners to better understand how to improve their disaster risk management practices. URBE Latam, which is one of these experiences, has been working to improve the neighborhood’s data generation practices, adopting the territorial definitions proposed by Milton Santos in Espaço e Método, coupled with participatory mapping strategies for disaster risk reduction during a three-year period.This has resulted in the mapping of El Pacífico and the improvement of the local grassroot organization’s territorial management practices. These maps have served as tools for the community’s empowerment when dealing with public institutions, as well as for planning and managing their own territorial agendas for the future.

Keywords

• Community mapping
• disaster risk management
• OpenStreetMap
• Milton Santos
• self-built community
• Michael Hardman, University of Salford, UK