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Post‐tsunami recovery and reconstruction: governance issues and implications of the Great East Japan Earthquake
Author(s) -
Cho Ara
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/disa.12068
Subject(s) - decentralization , corporate governance , politics , state (computer science) , vitality , political science , political economy , public administration , collective action , development economics , sociology , law , business , economics , philosophy , theology , finance , algorithm , computer science
Post‐disaster governance is a popular discussion topic in disaster research, but in practice understanding of the issue is limited. This paper discusses recovery governance since the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, focusing on two dimensions: decentralisation and citizen participation in local governance. Regional Japan's socio‐spatial vitality has been shrinking and weakening under the developmental state system. The 2011 disaster exposed vulnerabilities in the socio‐political system. For a short time it appeared that local political space had been opened for alternative governance systems; however, only limited improvements have occurred in decentralisation reform and civic participation systems. Tsunami recovery was constrained and delayed by predisaster trajectories, although socio‐spatial inequalities increased. The paper suggests the implications of this for the developmental state and argues that drastic action should be taken to rectify the faults of the socio‐political system, to stop the disaster‐affected area's decline, and to promote regional and community recovery.