Seated at the foot of the Misti volcano in an area prone to intense seasonal rains and earthquakes, the city of Arequipa is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. During the rainy season, intense storms create large volumes of runoff that rush through the city's ephemeral streams, known locally as torrenteras. Episodic flows in these torrenteras have caused flooding, damage to bridges, homes, and other infrastructure, and caused many deaths. In recent years, while unprecedented rain events have caused extreme disasters, the city's population has continued to expand into these channels by creating informal or illegal settlements. Currently, detailed hazard maps of flood‐prone areas surrounding the torrenteras are not available to stakeholders in Arequipa. In this study, hydrologic and hydraulic models were combined to assess flash flood hazards, including inundation, velocity hazards, and slope instability hazards. Hydrologic models were created using satellite precipitation data and terrain‐sensitive, gridded climate maps to characterize flow within six torrenteras in Arequipa. These flows were used in conjunction with elevation data and data collected in the field using an online mobile application system to develop a hydraulic model of these flood events. Hydraulic model outputs were used to determine flood hazards related to inundation, velocity affecting human stability, and slope instability in case study areas of the torrenteras. We then discuss how this information can be used by disaster risk management groups, water authorities, planners and municipalities, and community groups.

In a globalized world, universities are forming partnerships to solve today's water‐related challenges, such as increasing water scarcity and diminished water quality. Over the past 20 years, international university‐led water research partnerships have been growing in number, including between the U.S. and countries in the Global South. While there are several examples of guidelines and best practices for executing collaborations, none focus on this type of partnership. Additionally, many international collaborations are formed between universities that have little previous experience in developing these types of partnerships. Often, critiques of partnerships happen after initiation and point to structural barriers and best practices for future collaborations, but few offer practical guidance on overcoming obstacles early on, amid an imperfect partnership. In this paper, we created a flexible collaboration framework which can be used as an evaluative tool. To model this, we conducted an internal evaluation of the Sustainable Water Management team of the Arequipa Nexus Institute, a collaboration designed to build research capacity at the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín to address local issues related to agriculture, natural resource management, and environmental change. Results highlighted project strengths and weaknesses and offered strategies to address challenges that many collaborations face. This strategy identification can serve as a guideline for improving the implementation of new or existing international university‐led water research partnerships and help partners as they confront challenges at every stage of the partnership. The evaluation shows the effectiveness of using a collaboration framework as an assessment tool for international university‐led water research partnerships.

Land reclamation on water bodies has been a common practice in Japan in the last century due to modernization, the growth of population, the geographical characteristics of the Japanese archipelago and the scarcity of available land (85% of the country is composed by woods and mountains).Also, land reclamation has had repercussions in the physical environment as well as in the social and cultural life of the population living in the places where these developments were carried out, particularly regarding the way in which people perceived the landscape.This paper will examine two cases in the Lake Biwa, corresponding to both urban and rural areas in order to show two different ways in which land reclamation was developed in Lake Biwa

El presente trabajo integra, a la luz del concepto de acupuntura urbana, dos casos de estudio, desarrollados por investigadores de Perú y Colombia, en torno al problema de la integración sistémica de los bordes urbanos a la dinámica formal de la ciudad. El enfoque se dirige a una idea de renovación urbana comprometida con las zonas periféricas que presentan condiciones de alto riesgo y de crecimiento desregulado, de espaldas a los derroteros y metodologías convencionales de la planeación y el ordenamiento territorial. Zonas que, marcadas por situaciones de fragmentación y de precariedad física y social, inciden negativamente en las condiciones de habitabilidad, gobernabilidad, productividad y conectividad de la ciudad. El caso peruano ofrece una metodología que integra las nociones de catálisis urbana, construcción social del hábitat y diseño participativo. El caso colombiano propone un instrumento de planificación que, desde la definición de criterios de renovación urbana en entornos periféricos deprimidos, permite establecer, a partir de la noción de consistencia socioespacial, una estrategia para el abordaje de las zonas de alto riesgo ambiental, físico y social, gracias al desarrollo de redes de equipamientos y servicios relacionados con la vivienda y con sus usos compatibles. Como resultado, se cuenta con un análisis comparativo que, sumando instrumentos, contribuye con la resemantización de una planeación urbana que, desde aquí, incorpora la periferia y enfrenta la marginalidad.

En este artículo proponemos el concepto de régimen urbano especulativo para enfrentar las críticas al concepto de informalidad, y para describir las condiciones contemporáneas de producción de espacio urbano en el Perú desde el 2000. Para tal fin, se realizó un estudio comparativo de tres áreas de expansión en Arequipa, Lima y Tacna en el Perú, donde se aplicaron 91 entrevistas semiestructuradas, así como análisis de información secundaria y socioespacial. Los resultados muestran que los modos de producción de espacio urbano en las tres ciudades del Perú están sustentados en la disputa del suelo con fines especulativos. En este proceso participan de manera sinérgica y con acuerdos sociales y legales, el aparato estatal, empresa privada, redes criminales y asociaciones civiles. Los hallazgos permiten discutir el concepto de “régimen urbano especulativo” como una apuesta por explicar la complejidad de las relaciones de poder involucradas en la producción de suelo urbano en los márgenes de las ciudades peruanas.