The Influence of Political Inequality in Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: An Analysis of Selected Mexican Municipalities

The susceptibility of different territorial units to be affected by natural hazards has been usually associated with the nature of the hazard itself, together with the socio-economic conditions of the local population. However, the political conditions that underlie planning and emergency response are usually overlooked. We argue that vulnerability varies in relation to the political inequalities regarding law enforcement, effective planning, land use control, environmental knowledge and resources availability among different territories in response to hazards; and these inequalities would significantly influence vulnerability outcomes of municipalities subject to similar hazards. This paper reviews the debates of political inequalities and their spatial effects. It also discusses the differences in vulnerability outcomes in different territorial units in Mexico, associated with such inequalities, from a qualitative comparative approach.