Building urban resilience and knowledge co-production in the face of weather hazards: flash floods in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (Mexico)

In 2010, flash floods triggered by Hurricane Alex caused fifteen fatalities in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA). In contrast, an estimated 225 people died in the 1988 Hurricane Gilbert disaster and reputedly, over 5,000 in the historical flood of 1909. The magnitude of hurricane-related impacts thus appears to be decreasing, indicating higher resilience to this hazard. This paper analyses the process of building resilience to flash floods in the MMA over the last several decades. Knowledge co-production plays a significant role in that process, particularly through the Nuevo Leon State Reconstruction Council, the multi-institutional, public-private-civil group of stakeholders established to guide and coordinate reconstruction efforts following the Hurricane Alex disaster. Findings reveal a complex, protracted and incremental resilience building process, conditioned by the nature of the hazard (infrequent but liable to cause significant damages) and contingent upon the city's socioeconomic and institutional local context. This local context is embedded in a highly fragmented national water governance architecture that lacks inter-institutional co-ordination and has limited the city's adaptive responses. Despite definite gains in building resilience, the city faces challenges notably in terms of the conservation and continuing development of knowledge co-produced in the aftermath of disasters.