Financing climate-related resettlements in uneven geographies of risk: Lessons from Bogota Humana

With the growing prominence of climate change in development discourse, the practice of resettling households vulnerable to disasters is increasingly promoted as a strategy for climate adaptation. This study focuses on the Bogota Humana development plan (2012–2016) in which Bogota, a regional leader in resilience planning, first tied its resettlement policy to a broader adaptation strategy. Specifically, the study analyzes the creation of a new municipal subsidy to finance resettlements in the context of Bogota’s complex and uneven geography of risk. Data for the study was collected through a household survey of program participants, interviews of city officials, site visits in Bogota and a review of Colombian census data. The study finds that despite the unprecedented size of the city’s investment in resettlements during this period, it largely failed to meet the plan’s goals. Its uniform financing and large-scale resettlement strategy failed to account for varying levels of risk produced by informal development. Consequently, Bogota Humana’s climate resettlements resulted in an inconsistent process generating resistance among residents.