Governance of inherently dangerous territories: strategies of adaptation and perspectives of evolution

Abstract

Management of inherently dangerous territories (IDT) represents a major issue for our society which should be prepared to cope with inherent risks. The problem that underlies our thoughts is to know how to manage in a sustainable way, the inherent dangerousness of a territory. The original concept of IDT questions classic probability approaches of the risk. It considers risk as a territory's constituent. Observing various territories in their historical dimension, and focusing our analysis on contemporary public actions in natural hazards management, we investigate the relation between risk and territory as well as strategies of adaptation developed in territorial crisis management.