Disaster and Displacement: Exploring the Physical and Social Dimensions of Resettlement and Reconstruction

Acknowledging the multidimensional nature of disasters’ impacts and subsequent recovery pathways as well as the central role of communities’ agency, this book introduces and discusses the political, architectural and social dimensions of disaster-induced displacement and reconstruction in the long-term view. The impact of disasters on cities and housing worldwide is expected to be magnified by climate change, threatening to displace people temporarily or permanently, with cascading impacts at individual and collective levels. However, several issues are still unexplored, such as validating survivors’ agency for their recovery. The book covers diverse international case studies using qualitative and quantitative research methods and a mix of both to document varied recovery pathways. The book is also enriched with studies addressing displacement in the context of armed conflict and other highly relevant circumstances affecting development. The discussions in this book provide insights for appropriate recovery initiatives, acknowledging the role of housing as the bedrock of durable and sustainable recovery and fostering the creation of safer building environments through the “build back safer” ethos for building resilient communities. The lessons from this book provide evidence to improve disaster planning and assistance, which is greatly pertinent for governments, humanitarian agencies, domestic and international NGOs, practitioners and academicians.

Chiho Ochiai is an associate professor at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES), Kyoto University, Japan. She has worked at a development consulting firm, joining projects in Southeast Asia and South America. She has a sociology background, she holds a Ph.D. from GSGES, Kyoto University. She was a visiting scholar at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD), University of California, Berkeley, in 2014, researching community efforts after the wildfire. Her research interests mainly focus on community participation in post-disaster housing reconstruction, disaster risk reduction activities, and traditional community knowledge coping with local natural disasters in Japan, Asia, and the USA.

Sandra Carrasco is a lecturer in humanitarianism and development at Deakin University, Australia. She was previously employed as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Newcastle and received the prestigious postdoctoral McKenzie Fellowship at the University of Melbourne. Sandra holds a PhD and master’s in environmental management from Kyoto University, Japan and a master’s in education from Victoria University, Australia. She has professional and research experience in the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. Her research interests include community resilience and sustainable development, equality, diversity and inclusion, disaster risk reduction and post-disaster recovery, governance and city planning, incremental housing, urban poverty, and migrant and refugee studies.

Sung Lun Tsai is a member of the Emerging Frontiers Division, the innovation department at Shimizu Corporation. He previously worked as a co-researcher associate at Kyoto University. He holds both a doctoral and a master's degree in environmental management from the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES) at Kyoto University, Japan. During his graduate studies, he received scholarships and research funding from the Government of Taiwan, the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, the Obayashi Foundation, the Mishima Kaiun Memorial Foundation, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation. His research interests primarily focus on post-disaster reconstruction, livelihood restoration, community resilience, disaster risk reduction, and settlement planning in the context of Taiwan's indigenous communities.