COMMUNITY RESILIENCE TO TSUNAMI RISK ON THE NEOLIBERAL COAST: THE CASE OF THE QUISCO COMMUNE, VALPARAÍSO REGION, CHILE

Abstract

Given the increased risk of tsunami disaster in the coastal zone, it is necessary to develop guidelines to address this problem and, in this line, the paradigm of community resilience has taken preponderance for its generation. Community resilience to tsunami in the commune of El Quisco, Chile, was evaluated and it was established how neoliberal urbanism, specifically the touristification of the territory, affects this dimension. Surveys were applied in three units of analysis, resulting in two factors of community tsunami resilience through principal component analysis: "knowledge of the place, networks and tsunami preparedness", and "cohesion and perception of the threat". In addition, social vulnerability, years of residence, morphology and urban typology, elements that influence resilience and are contextualized by the neoliberal management of the territory, were also investigated. U1 resulted in a tourist zone and reached the lowest resilience value; U2 is a tourist-residential zone and obtained an intermediate resilience figure; U3 is a residential zone and reached a higher resilience level. It is established that in those areas with more tourism, social relations are more atomized and there is less relationship with the immediate environment, thus decreasing community resilience to tsunami. It is concluded that, although it is important to emphasize the active role of communities in risk reduction, the causes of disasters respond to structural factors that are beyond the scope of community action, so that actions should be, first and foremost, aimed at reducing vulnerability and exposure.