A Human centred approach to post disaster resettlement housing: case sudy on walk-up apartments in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The rapid increase of post-disaster involuntary resettlement presents a significant global challenge. Integral to the disaster management cycle, post-disaster reconstruction is pivotal, serving as the backbone of the entire resettlement process. As post-disaster resettlement is a far more sensitive process than providing shelters, it should address the multidimensional requirements of the resettling community as well as the host community from different perspectives. Despite its criticality, existing research indicate, still there is a distrust about the community satisfaction of post-disaster involuntary resettlement in long-term. In Sri Lanka, recent decades have seen floods, landslides, and tsunamis trigger significant resettlements, highlighting a research void concerning the design aspects of these relocations, which critically influence long-term community contentment. Hence, the study focuses on the identification of design related issues of involuntary resettlements with special reference to post-disaster involuntary resettlement walk-up apartments in Sri Lanka which have an essential and futuristic requirement in the resettlement process. Qualitative approach was used for filling the knowledge gaps about the phenomenon, and development of a descriptive knowledge framework of the phenomenon. Accordingly, this study reinforced by a comprehensive literature review and interviews with beneficiaries to validate the findings of the literature. The beneficiary interviews were conducted by selecting two case studies representing two different types of disasters. The anticipated outcome is the formulation of design indicators to guide policymakers and practitioners towards enhancing the efficacy and community satisfaction in future post-disaster housing projects over the long term.