Successes and failures in post-disaster resettlement.

In this article I examine the problem of the resettlement of populations after disaster. After considering the complexity of the resettlement process in general and the reasons resettlement is often chosen by authorities following disaster, I discuss a theoretical perspective from development project resettlement which may have relevance for disaster research. This is followed by an examination of those factors in post-disaster resettlement projects which have proved important in affecting successful or unsuccessful outcomes. Site, layout, housing and popular input are presented as crucial issues in the determination of success or failure in post-disaster resettlement. Case material from Turkey, Iran and Peru is presented to illustrate how failure to attend to these issues produces unsuccessful resettlement villages. Case material from Turkey is used to illustrate how attention to these factors improves chances of success in resettlement. Material from cases of voluntary, spontaneous post-disaster resettlement in Guatemala is also presented to underscore the importance of popular participation for successful resettlement despite insufficiencies in design and material inputs. The article ends with a brief consideration of resistance to resettlement and alternative policies.

Post-disaster housing reconstruction and social inequality: a challenge to policy and practice.

In post-disaster reconstruction the social aspects of housing provision are important for the success of both emergency shelters and permanent housing, particularly in settlements that have been permanently relocated or entirety rebuilt. The social dimensions of housing reconstruction after disaster are discussed in the context of the long-term effects of reconstruction after the Yungay, Peru Earthquake-Avalanche of 1970. Consideration of these issues presents questions regarding the tension between continuity and change in affected populations, the importance of pre-disaster socio-economic patterns for reconstruction and the criteria used for assessing the success of post-disaster reconstruction and development projects. The author contends that post-disaster housing reconstruction must avoid rebuilding structures which reflect, sustain and reproduce patterns of inequality and exploitation.