Flooding,resettlement, and change in livelihoods: evidence from rural Mozambique

Post‐disaster development policies, such as resettlement, can have major impacts on communities. This paper examines how and why people's livelihoods change as a result of resettlement, and relocated people's views of such changes, in the context of natural disasters. It presents two historically‐grounded, comparative case studies of post‐flood resettlement in rural Mozambique. The studies demonstrate a movement away from rain‐fed subsistence agriculture towards commercial agriculture and non‐agricultural activities. The ability to secure a viable livelihood was a key determinant of whether resettlers remained in their new locations or returned to the river valleys despite the risks posed by floods. The findings suggest that more research is required to understand i) why resettlers choose to stay in or abandon designated resettlement areas, ii) what is meant by ‘voluntary’ and ‘involuntary’ resettlement in the realm of post‐disaster reconstruction, and iii) the policy drivers of resettlement in developing countries.     

Examining the impacts of disaster resettlement from a livelihood perspective: a case study of Qinling Mountains,China

Disaster resettlement, as a mitigation and preparedness measure, entails significant economic, physical, and social impacts, which continue to challenge understanding of recovery from major events, especially regarding the extent of the context and environmental efforts to rebuild livelihoods. Based on a case study of Qinling Mountains, China, this research investigates the effects of disaster resettlement from a livelihoods perspective. Methodologically, it proposes a framework that combines the pressure–state–response framework and the sustainable livelihoods approach, and it employs a structural equation model to examine how specific factors affect disaster resettlement. The results indicate that conflicts may occur during and after resettlement owing to the difference or disparity between the concerns of resettled peasants and those of the government. Consequently, the risks related to livelihoods need to be taken seriously. Effective risk communication is critical to bridge the gap between different stakeholders. The paper concludes with some practical and policy recommendations.     

中国自然灾害转移、安置的财政补助机制

简要分析了转移、安置在应急管理与救灾实践中的重要意义。在分析转移、安置要素的基础上，结合灾害脆弱性分析提出了转移、安置规模和程度模型，讨论了人为决策影响因素对模型的影响，较好地体现了自然因素和人为因素的综合作用。根据对转移、安置的发生进程的分析，提出了转移、安置分级的概念并进行了简单的分级，阐述了转移、安置中的资源需求。在这些工作的基础上，进一步分析了我国当前转移、安置财政补助机制的优缺点，提出了基于上述模型和分级标准的改进建议。     

Successes and failures in post-disaster resettlement

In this article I examine the problem of the resettlement of populations after disaster. After considering the complexity of the resettlement process in general and the reasons resettlement is often chosen by authorities following disaster, I discuss a theoretical perspective from development project resettlement which may have relevance for disaster research. This is followed by an examination of those factors in post-disaster resettlement projects which have proved important in affecting successful or unsuccessful outcomes. Site, layout, housing and popular input are presented as crucial issues in the determination of success or failure in post-disaster resettlement. Case material from Turkey, Iran and Peru is presented to illustrate how failure to attend to these issues produces unsuccessful resettlement villages. Case material from Turkey is used to illustrate how attention to these factors improves chances of success in resettlement. Material from cases of voluntary, spontaneous post-disaster resettlement in Guatemala is also presented to underscore the importance of popular participation for successful resettlement despite insufficiencies in design and material inputs. The article ends with a brief consideration of resistance to resettlement and alternative policies.     

Mobility due to natural disaster: theoretical considerations and preliminary analyses

Relatively little of the work on natural disasters has focused on people who do not return to their pre-disaster homes. This study uses Annual Housing Survey data from 1974 through 1981 to examine moving households who attribute their moves to a natural disaster. The focus is on three issues: the characteristics of the movers and their recovery; a comparison with other involuntary movers (i.e., public and private displacees); and the amount of innovating or conserving behavior shown by different groups of movers and the impact of these behaviors on each group's recovery after the move. The paper compares disaster movers to all movers and to other forced movers. Distinct differences between the groups in their characteristics and housing recovery exist. The paper concludes with suggestions for continued analysis and policy implications.     

Coping with riverbank erosion hazard and displacement in bangladesh: survival strategies and adjustments

As a deltaic plain, Bangladesh annually experiences riverbank erosion hazard due to sudden and rapid channel shifting, particularly in the major floodplain areas of the country. Consequently, valuable cultivable land is lost; also village settlements, markets and towns are destroyed, displacing tens of thousands of people. This paper examines the magnitude of river channel migration and encroachment on land, and the nature of human adjustment systems in the Brahmaputra–Jamuna floodplain, by investigating aspects of the social and cultural dynamics of resettlement of the displaced people. Some policy measures are recommended to improve the ability of the people in the floodplain to cope with these hazards.     

Unpacking the post‐Haiyan disaster resettlement narratives of young Filipino women informal settlers in Tacloban City,Philippines

Post‐disaster resettlement narratives encapsulate the complex mobile–spatial processes that are embedded in a post‐disaster context. The existing literature on disaster relocation and resettlement accords primacy to the logistical, practical, structural, and physical dimensions of residential transitioning. Building on this knowledge, this study conducted a spatial narrative inquiry to generate a link to mobile–spatial realities interspersed in diverse temporal trajectories. It did so by tracking the embodied rhythms of people and objects evoked through the retelling of post‐disaster resettlement stories by 12 young Filipino women informal settlers. The key findings are organised in three spatial narratives: ‘house near the sea'; ‘there at the bunkhouse'; and ‘here in Ridgeview'. These narratives are anchored in the overarching dimensions that underpin Filipino informal settlers’ experiences of (not) moving in and out of disaster resettlement areas. Lastly, the findings are explained in the light of the theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of disaster resettlement specific to informal settlers.     

The politics of protection: aid, human rights discourse, and power relations in Kyaka II settlement, Uganda

This paper explores the conceptualisation and application of 'protection' by the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR), Ugandan government, and Congolese refugees in Kyaka II refugee settlement, Uganda. Analysing the origins and consequences of a demonstration against school fees, and drawing on other ethnographic data, it explores how different interpretations of this incident reflect different conceptions of, and approaches to, protection. Ugandan government officials viewed the demonstration as a security incident; Congolese and Ugandan adults responded with increased monitoring and 'sheltering' of children and young people; students justified the demonstration as a legitimate manifestation of their rights; while UNHCR promoted assistance and resettlement. The paper argues that prevailing protection responses, including 'sensitisation', sheltering, and resettlement, are de-contextualised from daily realities and fail to address the underlying power relations that undermine protection. It concludes with recommendations on how international refugee agencies can reorient assistance to address protection concerns in refugee contexts.     

An investigation into the socioeconomic aspects of two major earthquakes in Iran

An evaluation of the socioeconomic consequences of earthquakes is an essential part of the development of risk reduction and disaster management plans. However, these variables are not normally addressed sufficiently after strong earthquakes; researchers and relevant stakeholders focus primarily on the physical damage and casualties. The importance of the socioeconomic consequences of seismic events became clearer in Iran after the Bam earthquake on 26 December 2003, as demonstrated by the formulation and approval of various laws and ordinances. This paper reviews the country's regulatory framework in the light of the socioeconomic aspects of two major and destructive earthquakes: in Manjil–Rudbar in 1990, and in Bam in 2003. The results take the form of recommendations and practical strategies for incorporating the socioeconomic dimensions of earthquakes in disaster risk management planning. The results presented here can be applied in other countries with similar conditions to those of Iran in order to improve public preparedness and risk reduction.     

Returning home: resettlement of formerly abducted children in Northern Uganda

This exploratory qualitative study considers the subjective resettlement experiences of children forced into armed conflict in Northern Uganda from the perspectives of 11 former child combatants and 11 adult community members. A thematic analysis was performed on the narrative data. The bioecological model was used to provide a conceptual framework for key themes. Major findings included the overarching impact of ongoing armed conflict on returnees' lives, the important role of the family in supporting children's resettlement, the harassment of former child soldiers by community members, and the community's inability to support systematically the returning children in tangible ways. This study recommends that humanitarian services at all levels strengthen the capacity of families to care for the material and psychoemotional needs of former child soldiers within their communities.     

Conflict-induced displacement and involuntary resettlement in Colombia: putting Cernea's IRLR model to the test

This paper tests Cernea's (1997) impoverishment risks and livelihood reconstruction (IRLR) model in cases of conflict-induced displacement (CID). In applying the model to a situation involving internal conflict, the article illustrates the particular problems encountered by internally displaced people (IDPs) and policymakers charged to respond to them. The article searches for local interpretations of CID and resettlement through a comparative profile of two IDP settlements in Colombia: one urban, the other rural. It concludes that the IRLR model, when contextualised, provides a useful tool to identify and categorise risks of impoverishment and resettlement priorities. At the same time, however, the article demonstrates that the model insufficiently captures the root causes or causality of CID.     

Home buyouts and household recovery: neighborhood differences three years after Hurricane Sandy

Home buyout programs facilitate the permanent relocation of residents away from areas considered to be at risk from future hazards, though few studies have examined the impacts of home buyout programs on affected households and communities beyond the program implementation period. In this paper, we examine between-neighborhood variation in key recovery indicators for three neighborhoods that followed different paths to recovery after Hurricane Sandy: one that rebuilt in situ, one that participated in a buyout and relocated, and one located immediately adjacent to the buyout zone. Three years post-disaster, buyout participants are faring worse in terms of place attachment and social capital compared to residents in the other two neighborhoods, while the neighborhood adjacent to the buyout zone is also showing signs of decline. These findings suggest that the social costs of buyouts extend well into the recovery period, and that the place-based ties and social networks that would typically help individuals cope with disaster impacts and persevere through adversity may be diminished for buyout participants, ultimately hindering their recovery. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of buyouts on participating and affected communities, as well as implications for research and policy.     

Putting houses in place:1 rebuilding communities in post‐tsunami Sri Lanka

This paper interrogates the social and political geographies of resettlement and reconstruction of temporary and permanent shelters, which are fundamental to rebuilding tsunami‐affected communities. War and ethnic cleavages are an endemic feature of Sri Lanka's social polity, and uneven development processes in the country are clearly visible. This paper draws attention to these spaces of inequality by drawing on in‐depth interviews and participant observation carried out in Eastern and Southern Sri Lanka. It argues that communities' concerns and anxieties regarding displacement and resettlement have tended to be articulated against prevailing fault lines of war and inequality. This is the backdrop against which communities negotiated the recovery process. My fieldwork shows that it is critical to understand that disaster and development relief are ingrained within context specificities. Relief efforts therefore need to recognise that the process of ‘putting houses in place’ should be embedded within local social relations.     

强震序列对工程建设的影响

本文讨论一次大震或强震序列发生以后,由于存在发生强余震和晚期强余震的危险,因此在余震区及其附近进行城市居民区迁址或重要工程建设时,应该考虑强震序列影响的必要性,并以历史资料和近年发生的地震事件为例,说明它们的危害性。文中以唐山地震序列作为典型震例,分析和研究大震后强余震在时间与空间上的演变特点,今后发生晚期强余震的可能性以及该区在工程建设中需注意的问题。     

Awareness, Preparedness and Adjustment Measures of River-bank Erosion-prone People: A Case Study

People prone to the effects of river-bank erosion are well aware of the hazard they face, but see it as an unavoidable evil. Communities' lack of success in combating erosion can be attributed to their poverty and to their not knowing about any means to mitigate its effects. Households in safer areas have reduced their dependency on agriculture and developed more scope for non-farm activities, however, this is often difficult given the limited development of local enterprise. The major parameters that influence the adjustment measures after erosion are the education, skills, occupation and financial state of those affected. Those most vulnerable are households very much dependent on agriculture: for them resettlement to distant urban areas is not an option.     

Post-traumatic stress disorder and comorbid depression among survivors of the 1999 earthquake in Turkey

This study examined the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid depression some three years after the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey among a sample of 769 survivors relocated to a permanent housing site built for homeless survivors in the epicentre region. Time since trauma was 3.1 years for 81 per cent of the participants and 3.9 years for the remainder. Survivors were assessed using the Screening Instrument for Traumatic Stress in Earthquake Survivors, an easily administered self-rating scale with demonstrated validity. The estimated rates of PTSD and comorbid depression were 40 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. Linear regression analyses showed that PTSD strongly related to fear during the earthquake, while depression related to loss of family members. These results suggest that catastrophic earthquakes have long-term psychological consequences and highlight the need for a cost-effective mental health care model for earthquake survivors.     

The displaced poor and resettlement policies in bangladesh

Bangladesh is a land of natural disasters. Every year the country is affected by flood, riverbank erosion, drought, coastal cyclone and tornado. Riverbank erosion alone displaces an estimated one million people annually. Based on research carried out in Bangladesh in 1984–85, this paper critically examines resettlement options of the displaced poor in the light of existing policies for developing more effective short and long-term resettlement and development strategies .     

Post-disaster housing reconstruction and social inequality: a challenge to policy and practice

In post-disaster reconstruction the social aspects of housing provision are important for the success of both emergency shelters and permanent housing, particularly in settlements that have been permanently relocated or entirety rebuilt. The social dimensions of housing reconstruction after disaster are discussed in the context of the long-term effects of reconstruction after the Yungay, Peru Earthquake-Avalanche of 1970. Consideration of these issues presents questions regarding the tension between continuity and change in affected populations, the importance of pre-disaster socio-economic patterns for reconstruction and the criteria used for assessing the success of post-disaster reconstruction and development projects. The author contends that post-disaster housing reconstruction must avoid rebuilding structures which reflect, sustain and reproduce patterns of inequality and exploitation.     

Community resilience and volcano hazard: the eruption of Tungurahua and evacuation of the faldas in Ecuador

Official response to explosive volcano hazards usually involves evacuation of local inhabitants to safe shelters. Enforcement is often difficult and problems can be exacerbated when major eruptions do not ensue. Families are deprived of livelihoods and pressure to return to hazardous areas builds. Concomitantly, prevailing socio-economic and political conditions limit activities and can influence vulnerability. This paper addresses these issues, examining an ongoing volcano hazard (Tungurahua) in Ecuador where contextual realities significantly constrain responses. Fieldwork involved interviewing government officials, selecting focus groups and conducting surveys of evacuees in four locations: a temporary shelter, a permanent resettlement, with returnees and with a control group. Differences in perceptions of risk and health conditions, and in the potential for economic recovery were found among groups with different evacuation experiences. The long-term goal is to develop a model of community resilience in long-term stress environments.     

综合防灾减灾的安全理念在城市规划中的实施路径——以北川新县城灾后重建规划为例

北川,作为汶川特大地震中唯一一个整体异地重建的县城,受到全国人民乃至世界的极大关注,其安全防灾问题必然成为新县城建设的核心问题。通过对北川灾后重建规划的系统总结,揭示出城市规划与城市安全的紧密关联。在城市规划中应将安全置于首位,并将安全防灾理念贯穿于规划全过程;通过选址、布局、防灾疏散场地的合理布局构建安全的城市环境;通过强化建筑防灾、基础设施防灾,加强公共安全设施工程建设,提高城市抗御灾害和应对突发事件的能力;通过建立健全灾害预防和应急信息系统及紧急救援体系等一系列规划、工程手段,达到建设"安全、安定、安心"城市的目标。