Towards a Social and Spatial Risk Perception Framework

While risk perception studies have flourished in an expanded interdisciplinary field since the early works of geographers and psychologists in the 1960s, the wide array of risk perception drivers remain controversial. This paper proposes to shift from location-specific approaches to a space-based framework in order to develop the relationship between risk perception, residential segregation and exposure to hazards. The data is provided by a spatially and socially representative survey (n = 621) carried out in Bucharest, Romania. Bucharest is a medium-size European capital particularly exposed to floods, earthquakes, hazardous activities and pollution. Rapid deindustrialization and the enduring memory of the last major earthquakes provided a good context in which to develop time and space dimensions. Data is used to compare three different models: the aggregate ratings of extreme events, the significance of individual differences, and Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to place emphasis both on differences between rated phenomena and between respondents. Results are mapped and compared with official risk delineation maps in order to highlight those neighbourhoods where there are considerable disparities between perceived risk and assessed risk. These comparisons establish the relevance of the space-based framework. They are also confirming most classical hypotheses and revealing the systematically strong explanatory power of space. This implies that random sample surveys as well as location-specific studies may have been systematically biased. The strong spatial oppositions in risk perception are explained by residential segregation and the respondents’ environment. Implications for risk perception studies and risk communication are then discussed