An evaluation framework for assessing resilience of post-disaster housing
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment
ISSN: 1759-5908
Article publication date: 14 September 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the utility of a tool for assessing resilience of housing. After disasters, maximum resources are often allocated for housing reconstruction, and most initiatives on disaster resilient housing have arisen after disasters. With widespread claims by agencies of having “built back better”, it is important to establish an evaluation framework that allows understanding to what extent resilience has been successfully achieved in such housing projects. This paper discusses such a tool developed by the authors.
Design/methodology/approach
In a study commissioned by the Australian Shelter Reference Group, the authors have developed an evaluation tool for assessing resilience in housing and tested it in several housing reconstruction projects in the Asia-Pacific region. Various evaluation frameworks were reviewed to develop the tool. An approach derived from the log frame was adapted in alignment with other key approaches. The tool is practical and targeted for agency staff involved in housing projects, evaluators of housing reconstruction projects and communities to assess their housing in terms of resilience. It comprises three main stages of an assessment process with guided activities at each stage.
Findings
The tool was tested in the Cook Islands and Sri Lanka, and the key findings of the test assessments are presented to demonstrate the prospects of the tool. While the case study projects all indicated achievement of a level of resilience, problems were evident in terms of designs issues and external factors.
Originality/value
Such a tool has the potential to be used more widely through advocacy to prioritise resilience in post-disaster housing reconstruction.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Caritas-Australia for allocating funding for the above study; AusAID (ex) for providing the funds to Caritas-Australia under the Humanitarian Partnership Agreement, a component of which related specifically to disaster risk reduction and management; and Shelter Reference Group (SRG), Australia for commissioning and facilitating the research project entitled Scoping Study: Shelter and Disaster Risk Reduction in the Asia-Pacific Region, from which this paper is derived.
Citation
Ahmed, I. and Charlesworth, E.R. (2015), "An evaluation framework for assessing resilience of post-disaster housing", International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 300-312. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDRBE-11-2013-0042
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited