Anuradha Mukherji

SHELTER RECOVERY IN URBAN HAITI AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE: The Dual Role of Social Capital

This paper documents the culture-specific understanding of social capital among Haitians and examines its benefits and downsides in post-disaster shelter recovery following the 12 January 2010 earthquake. The case study of shelter recovery processes in three socioeconomically diverse communities (Pétion-Ville, Delmas and Canapé Vert) in Port-au-Prince suggests that social capital plays dual roles in post-disaster shelter recovery of the displaced population in Haiti. On the one hand, it provides enhanced access to shelter-related resources for those with connections. On the other hand, it accentuates pre-existing inequalities or creates new inequalities among displaced Haitians. In some cases, such inequalities lead to tensions between the haves and have-nots and instigate violence among the displaced.

Out of Sync: World Bank Funding for Housing Recovery, Postdisaster Planning, and Participation

AbstractThe World Bank is increasingly at the forefront of housing reconstruction in countries affected by disasters. Yet, the literature on the World Bank’s postdisaster housing projects is rather thin. This paper examines the postdisaster housing reconstruction processes of two disaster projects financed by the World Bank in India and Turkey following the 2001 Gujarat and 1999 Marmara earthquakes. Based on interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and a review of secondary sources, the authors focus on the Bank-related factors that affected the housing recovery processes and outcomes. While acknowledging the role of the recipient governments of India and Turkey in housing recovery, the authors argue that the housing reconstruction components of both projects reflected a sense of urgency about completion in part because of the Bank’s emergency recovery loan mechanism and measures of project success. In addition, the projects were not flexible enough to allow for addressing the challenges faced d...

Expecting the unexpected: field research in post-disaster settings

The purpose of this article was to examine field research after disasters by focusing on fieldwork challenges in post-disaster research settings. We describe and evaluate post-disaster fieldwork based on three separate research projects: A study of land use change adaptation strategies following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami; a study of long-term housing recovery following the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake in India; and a study of the role of social capital in shelter recovery following the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. The main findings of this study deal with some of the unique set of challenges that accompanies fieldwork in post-disaster settings. Our findings indicate six aspects that researchers might consider prior to undertaking fieldwork in a disaster setting: the critical role of language, logistics of transport and living accommodation, methodological matters, the researcher’s position in the field (i.e., gender, ethnicity), fieldwork blues and ethical concerns. Potential solutions to these challenges include understanding the target community prior to embarking on fieldwork, having flexibility in the field to deal with unexpected issues and problems, planning ahead for institutional review board approvals, forming research collaborations and having strategies in place to manage stress in the field.

POST-DISASTER HOUSING RECOVERY: The Promise and Peril of Social Capital

Abstract Researchers argue that social networks based on shared values, trust, and norms can facilitate collective action, and such social capital increases the ability of communities to recover after a disaster, implying that the presence of social capital ensures collective community action after a disaster and enables recovery. Drawing from comparative case studies of Bhuj and Bachhau, urban centres impacted by the 2001 Gujarat earthquake in India, this study presents a nuanced view of the role of social capital during post-disaster recovery. It argues that it is important to consider community contexts that are inherent to the amount of social capital available and the use of resources through social networks. The study demonstrates that strong internal bonds based on mutual trust did not necessarily lead to collective action for post-disaster housing recovery among communities in Bhuj and Bachhau. Moreover, the amount of social capital available through bonding networks differed among communities, depending upon their pre-disaster networks and the resources embedded in them. The study findings expand upon the role of social capital during disaster recovery; in particular, they contribute to public policy debates on the ability of communities to engage in collective action to meet post-disaster housing needs.

From Tenants to Homeowners: Housing Renters After Disaster in Bhuj, India

While renters comprise one-third of urban housing markets, the barriers to long-term housing needs of renters following a disaster are significant. This paper examines post-disaster urban housing policy for renter households following the 2001 Gujarat earthquake in India and its implications for the housing recovery of renters in Bhuj city, an urban area close to the epicenter of the earthquake. Employing a qualitative case study method, the study finds that urban housing policy for renter households was defined by an ad hoc approach with multiple shifts over a period of 4 years. The improvised policy eventually lead to the creation of a publicly funded homeownership program that could rehouse less than one-third of impacted renters, whereas issues of equity, land tenure, lack of affordable units, and uncertainty of recovery for the poorest renters in the city remained.

Resilience at the margins: informal housing recovery in Bachhau, India, after the 2001 Gujarat quake

This paper examines informal housing recovery in Bachhau, an urban centre in Kutch district close to the epicentre of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Unlike other impacted urban areas, an informal housing recovery programme crafted to meet land tenure and housing needs of squatter households within the towns municipal limits was planned and implemented in Bachhau. The study employs a qualitative case study approach based upon in-depth informant interviews. It examines whether the current urban housing policy paradigm of enabling governance extends to post-disaster housing recovery. The paper argues that a centralised approach to post-disaster governance was put in place after the Gujarat earthquake with State appointed local authorities leading urban reconstruction and inviting select local NGOs to work on housing recovery. In Bachhau, the selected NGO became a de facto informal consultant to the Bachhau Authority, a State appointed local body to implement urban reconstruction in the town, and eventually gatekeepers to the informal housing recovery programme. The paper concludes that although an enabling paradigm might in general dominate housing policy it can be thrown into contestation in the context of an urban disaster.

Land Readjustment During Post-Disaster Urban Reconstruction

Land readjustment (LR), a land management technique used to consolidate plots of land for unified planning of infrastructure, servicing, and subdivision (Doebele, 1982), has received increased atte...

A Study of Light/Darkness in Sacred Settings: Digital Simulations

Studying light/darkness and sacred architecture reveals that the “holy” light dramatizes the spiritual state and affects the mood of the user in the sacred space. Furthermore, it shows that faith dictates the treatment of light/darkness in the sacred setting as means to enhance the spiritual experience. These two premises were investigated by conducting digital daylight simulations on the Brihadeshvara Hindu Temple (1010 AD) of Tanjore, Tamilnadu, India. This sacred monument, listed as one of UNESCOs World Heritage Sites, is an intriguing case study since the treatment of the ‘holy light’ in the temple is actually the treatment of the ‘holy darkness’. The simulated values were compared to the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) standards. The results demonstrate that digitized simulations can illustrate the significance of light/darkness in sacred settings as a spiritual experience. Moreover, this quantitative investigation can augment the qualitative studies in the field of historic sacred architecture. The work presented here unites and extends some previously published work [20],[29].