The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015−2030’s (SFDRR) framing moved away from disaster risk as a natural phenomenon to the examination of the inequality and injustice at the root of human vulnerability to hazards and disasters. Yet, its achievements have not seriously challenged the long-established capitalist systems of oppression that hinder the development leading to disaster risk creation. This article is an exploratory mapping exercise of and a collective reflection on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and SFDRR indicators—and their use in measuring progress towards disaster risk reduction (DRR). We highlight that despite the rhetoric of vulnerability, the measurement of progress towards DRR remains event/hazard-centric. We argue that the measurement of disaster risk could be greatly enhanced by the integration of development data in future iterations of global DRR frameworks for action.

PurposeFew people living in informal settlements in the Global South spontaneously claim that they are “resilient” or “adapting” to disaster risk or climate change. Surely, they often overcome multiple challenges, including natural hazards exacerbated by climate change. Yet their actions are increasingly examined through the framework of resilience, a notion developed in the North, and increasingly adopted in the South. To what extent eliminate’ do these initiatives correspond to the concepts that scholars and authorities place under the resilience framework?Design/methodology/approachThree longitudinal case studies in Yumbo, Salgar and San Andrés (Colombia) serve to investigate narratives of disaster risks and responses to them. Methods include narrative analysis from policy and project documents, presentations, five workshops, six focus groups and 24 interviews.FindingsThe discourse adopted by most international scholars and local authorities differs greatly from that used by citizens to explain risk and masks the politics involved in disaster reduction and the search for social justice. Besides, narratives of social change, aspirations and social status are increasingly masked in disaster risk explanations. Tensions are also concealed, including those regarding the winners and losers of interventions and the responsibilities for disaster risk reduction.Originality/valueOur findings confirm previous results that have shown that the resilience framework contributes to “depoliticize” the analysis of risk and serves to mask and dilute the responsibility of political and economic elites in disaster risk creation. But they also show that resilience fails to explain the type of socioeconomic change that is required to reduce vulnerabilities in Latin America.

Digital simulation of concrete structure construction: practical case-study in Bogotá Resumen Se están desarrollando actividades de simulación digital de procesos encaminadas a modelar la construcción de la estructura de muros y losas en concreto en proyectos inmobiliarios de una firma constructora colombiana. En un primer proyecto se generaron modelos que permitieron emitir recomendaciones prácticas para reducir el tiempo total de construcción. Actualmente se está concluyendo otro proceso de modelación aplicado en un proyecto nuevo de la misma firma constructora. Con estas herramientas de simulación se logra poner en manos de los planeadores de proyectos un instrumento que permite evaluar diferentes escenarios de manera probabilística, permitiendo así una mejor toma de decisiones ante condiciones de incertidumbre.

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Las decisiones cruciales en proyectos de construcción se toman en sus etapas iniciales. Además, una correcta planeación determina el éxito o fracaso de la ejecución, operación y mantenimiento de este tipo de proyectos. Con la metodología conocida como Building Information Modeling (BIM) es posible mejorar el resultado de la planeación mediante la implementación de modelos digitales en la toma de decisiones. En la presente investigación se propone una herramienta computacional que apoya la toma de decisiones financieras en la etapa de factibilidad integrando flujos de caja y modelos 4D. Esta herramienta permite mejorar la eficiencia de la planeación incrementando la precisión de los resultados de los indicadores de bondad económica que se analizan para la ejecución de proyectos de construcción.

PurposeThis conversation presents the reflections from six international disaster scholars on how disaster capitalism manifested in very different ways in different countries, including Japan, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, India and South Africa, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the conversations that took place on Disasters: Deconstructed Podcast livestream on the September 15, 2020.FindingsThe prominent themes in this conversation include profiteering, oppression and the politics of disasters.Originality/valueThe conversation contributes to the ongoing discussions around disaster capitalism and disaster risk creation.

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