Abstract
On an average, a major natural disaster strikes ten times in a year. Minor disasters occur as frequently as once a week. In 2012, climate and weather related disasters forced 32.4 million people to flee their homes, most of whom live in developing nations (Davidson, 2013).
Expectedly, large scale disasters often attract an equally large amount of humanitarian actors that, until today still operate without a single coordinating mechanism that oversees the recovery and reconstruction agenda. Non-governmental agencies without the architectural and reconstruction know-how have ventured into areas that are not their usual mandate, developing new housing that are lacking in even the most basic needs and infrastructure that are emerging on a massive scale. Ironically, while it is not acceptable for non-qualified parties to simply show up in the build sector and erect houses, when a disaster occurs in less developed countries that acquire a large rebuilding agenda, there seems to be an exception.
Critically, the 8.1-magnitude earthquake that killed 8, 857 people in Nepal and rendering homeless thousands more, while still in its relief and recovery phase will soon enter the all too familiar reconstruction chapter reeking of haphazard albeit well-meaning rebuilding that would again create new issues to solve in the future. With that consideration, this thesis aims to underline the value of architectural and technical expertise in the context of post-disaster reconstruction and preparedness. The objective of this research is to demonstrate the need for a single coordinating agency in post-disaster scenarios by analytically comparing the effective and ineffective recovery and reconstruction initiatives of two case studies. In the process, this paper will analyse the characteristics of natural disasters and the ways to mitigate their impact.
To answer the six research questions posted by this paper, the methods utilized included an extensive effort to locate and study a range of publications on previous projects done in the field, including recorded video interviews and previous meetings with current actors in the post-disaster scene.
This thesis can be summarized by offering few key lessons; most notably that for redevelopment projects to be long-term, the government not only needs to be involved in the recovery and reconstruction process from day one but also to be at the forefront of the coordination system. More importantly, architects need to evolve beyond their traditional role in the build industry and actively contribute to the building processes following disasters.