Housing Continuum: Key Determinants Linking Post-Disaster Reconstruction to Resilience in the Long Term

Home constitutes the most basic human need in most societies. At a micro-scale, a house is one of the basic human rights and forms the foundation for a safe, comfortable, healthy and prosperous life. For that reason, people invest a large portion of their earnings in their home making it the most expensive asset they possess. At a macroscale, the earth is the only home known to humans and non-humans, which sustains us through its ecosystem services like freshwater, air and fertile land. However, there is increasing friction in the interaction between the natural system and the human system (housing and the built environment), resulting in disasters.  Disasters are not ‘natural’. Human society is equally (if not more) responsible for disaster occurrence.  Additionally, disasters are not ‘neutral’ either. They disproportionately impact people living in the least developed countries (LDCs).  This research focuses on identifying key determinants in terms of policies, practices and participation approaches during post-disaster housing and settlement reconstruction projects that have helped bring such long-term changes.