52

Managing natural risks – especially hydrological ones – constitutes one of the central tasks of the State, which is responsible for the population’s security. Most of Swiss cities lie close to a river or a lake and are, therefore, particularly sensitive to these issues. Based on a research project analysing the situation in the city of Berne (Switzerland), this paper identifies the main characteristics of risk governance taking place in an urban framework. The particularities are closely linked to the urban density, which strongly limits the possibility to mitigate hazard by active measures, to the diversity and the density of activities, which increase the damage potential, and, finally, to the multiplicity of water uses, which enhance the potential for conflict. There is therefore a need for an integral risk governance connecting both risk characteristics (hazard, vulnerability) and socio-political issues (use of the water resource, activities, etc.).