Reframing “building back better” for post-disaster housing design: a community perspective
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
ISSN: 1759-5908
Article publication date: 12 September 2016
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to reframe the common concept of post-disaster reconstruction “building back better”, especially in the context of post-disaster housing design.
Design/methodology/approach
An Aceh post-tsunami housing reconstruction project is used as a case study with qualitative methodology through in-depth interviews of selected respondents.
Findings
The study findings have shown that the term “building back better” is not a familiar term for housing recipients. Whichever different personal background post-disaster survivors come from, whether they are housewife, civil servant, fisherman, university student, businessman or a professional, none have ever heard this phrase. All found it hard to understand the term. This study argues that the “building back better” concept is good in policy but not working in practice. As a result, housing recipients not only were dissatisfied with their new houses but also found that the new housing configurations profoundly altered their traditional way of life. In light of these findings, the paper argues that the concept of “building back better” needs to be reframed to take account of the cultural individual and communal needs and wants of post-disaster survivors.
Research limitations/implications
This study discusses only one aspect of post-disaster reconstruction that is the design of housing reconstruction.
Practical implications
Results from this study provide a practical contribution for reconstruction actors especially designers, architects and planners. It helps them to reconsider the common concepts they have used for post-disaster reconstruction processes particularly in designing housing reconstruction projects.
Originality/value
This study focuses on the question of how tsunami survivors in Aceh reacted to the design of their new post-tsunami houses and what they had done themselves to make their homes a better and nicer place to live within their own cultural needs. This study also sought to understand what motivated the opinions the respondents had about the design of housing reconstruction after the tsunami in Aceh generally. In addition, the study investigated whether survivors knew the phrase and the credo of “building back better” in a post-disaster context.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Professor Johannes Widodo and Professor Michael Feener of the National University of Singapore for their support and advice to carry out this study. The author would also like to thank Hisan, Qurratul Aini, Nurul Fajriani and Heppy Herawati for assistance during the fieldwork for this study in and around Banda Aceh. Credit is given to Sunanda Sudarmansyah for photos of Banda Aceh settlements after the tsunami and to Aceh Heritage Community for photos of Banda Aceh settlements after reconstruction. Finally, the author wishes to thank the respondents for sharing their experiences, opinions and hopes during the interviews. Without their generosity in sharing those experiences, this study would not have been possible.
Citation
Rahmayati, Y. (2016), "Reframing “building back better” for post-disaster housing design: a community perspective", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 344-360. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-05-2015-0029
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited