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Post‐Disaster Housing Reconstruction and Social Inequality: A Challenge to Policy and Practice
Author(s) -
OLIVERSMITH ANTHONY
Publication year - 1990
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/j.1467-7717.1990.tb00968.x
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , inequality , human settlement , poison control , social inequality , human factors and ergonomics , suicide prevention , political science , forensic engineering , economic growth , environmental planning , geography , engineering , environmental health , economics , medicine , mathematical analysis , mathematics , archaeology
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.