Hydric risk and urban planning in the city of Buenos Aires

This paper explores flood risk management in the City of Buenos Aires during the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, a period in which a series of hydraulic plans have been designed, all aimed at giving a "solution" to the overflows of the portends channeled streams. The link between risk management and urban planning is discussed, considering, on the one hand, the different paradigms in which the latest has been inserted (hygienist, rational, etc.) and on the other hand, the conception of the floodplain as socio-spatial, historical product, fruit of actions and decisions of key social actors with logics and interests in tension. This synthetic historical journey recognizes stages marked by different views on flood-prone areas. In each one of them it is possible to identify specific characteristics and rationalities that persist in the relationship between flooding, proposal of mitigation and urban planning: appropriation and reappropriation of flood-prone areas, denial and rediscovery of risk. The conclusion aims to contribute to the effective integration between risk management and urban policy, from the perspective of flood risk as a historical social construction and as an anticipation of the disaster.