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Urban Development and Nature in Latin America: An Indissoluble Marriage

Authors

  • Michel Hermelin Universidad EAFIT
Vol. 18 No. 47 (2003): Disasters
https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-8358.2003.62231

Abstract

In many latinoamerican countries, the increase of urban population and the absence of planning have exposed an important fraction of the population to natural risks. People’s attitude toward their environment has varied with time, from fear and submission to active protection. In a country as Colombia, a theoretical equilibrium has been reached through environmental law: rational use of the natural milieu, using resources but respecting restrictions. However much remains to be done to obtain a truly “natural risk culture”, particularly with respect to a sufficient knowledge of landscape dynamics after human intervention. This knowledge is indispensable, since mankind. presently facing the possibility of a global change on a short basis. Systematic monitoring of changes in land use and natural or modified surface or subsurface processes is thus necessary to establish the presence of global change. Previous strategies and a serious effort to foster related educational programs should be organised at regional and national scales in order to face the problems that the planet is suffering.

Author Biography

Michel Hermelin, Universidad EAFIT

Ingeniero Geólogo, Facultad de Minas, Universidad Nacional Medellín; MSc Colorado State University; MA, Princeton University; ex profesor Titular, U. Nacional de Colombia, Medellín; ex director general INGEOMINAS, Bogotá; Profesor, Coordinador Grupo de Geología Ambiental, Departamento de Geología, U. EAFIT, Medellín; autor de más de 100 artículos técnicos y científicos y editor de varios libros y memorias. Integrante del Grupo de Geología Ambiental de la Universidad EAFIT, AA:3300, Medellín, Colombia.

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How to Cite
Hermelin, M. (2003). Urban Development and Nature in Latin America: An Indissoluble Marriage. Revista INVI, 18(47). https://doi.org/10.5354/0718-8358.2003.62231
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Revista INVI
Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo
Universidad de Chile
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