How sustainable is disaster resilience?

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farrah Zuhaira Ismail ◽  
Anthony Halog ◽  
Carl Smith
Keyword(s):  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Housing Reconstruction ◽  
Key Indicators ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose The intervention of many different organizations during the post-disaster housing reconstructions could also influence the sustainability of the overall socio-ecology of the affected areas. Different approaches in design, selection of building materials and construction technologies deployed in pursuit of disaster resiliency may cause undesirable adverse circumstances to the surroundings, which escalate its susceptibility to future calamities. Therefore, this paper aims to identify relevant key indicators which interpret construction sustainability in a post-disaster housing reconstruction context, and to further investigate the dynamic interactions of these indicators on the socio-ecological system to achieve holistic sustainable post-disaster housing reconstructions. Design/methodology/approach Methodology was divided into three main stages. The first stage involved content analysis of related research materials, whereas the second stage was allocated for empirical data collection from case study and interview sessions. Data obtained from the first and second stage were then used to develop a causal loop diagram in the third stage to identify dynamic interrelationships between the indicators and the variables within a post-disaster reconstruction system. Findings From our results, the nexus of sustainability and disaster resilience is apparent and it is imperative to comprehend their dynamic interactions. The impacts of post-disaster reconstructions on the socio-ecological system are significant. Therefore, the adaptation of integrated sustainable construction approach in the housing reconstruction practice through system thinking will foster a holistic approach in the decision-making process and could reduce environmental damage. This also strengthens the interrelated socio-ecological systems, thus reinforcing disaster resilience in the built environment. Originality/value This research looks into the adaptation of integrated sustainable construction approach in the housing reconstruction practice through systems thinking approach. This will foster a holistic approach in the decision-making process and could reduce environmental damage. This also strengthens the interrelated socio-ecological systems, thus reinforcing disaster resilience in the built environment. This paper also looks into identifying relevant key indicators that interpret construction sustainability, which incorporate environmental, social and economic factors pertaining to the context of post-disaster housing reconstruction in Kuala Krai, Kelantan. The dynamic interrelationships and causal impacts between the indicators with other variables within the system were also established.

The Small2Mighty tourism academy

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole C. Favre
Keyword(s):  
National Development ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Common View ◽  
Original Solution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose The aim of this practitioner paper is to reflect on the mistakes that most post-colonial, post-conflict or post-disaster destinations make when planning to grow tourism, and to offer a practical and business-driven solution that would help secure a more stable future in spite of potential instabilities. Design/methodology/approach The paper is the result of three years spent working with micro and small tourism entrepreneurs in Haiti, Brazil, Lesotho, South Africa, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Ethiopia and India. Findings The paper observes that most post-colonial, post-conflict or post-disaster destinations do not understand that developing tourism goes hand in hand with developing entrepreneurs and their businesses. Practical implications The paper could kick-start a more holistic approach to tourism development to catalyse long rather than short-term economic and social gains, especially for women. Originality/value This paper contradicts the common view that tourism growth is about increasing arrival numbers and focusing on infrastructure development. It presents an original solution that focusses on vision (an approach borrowed from Simon Sinek, the third most popular TED speaker and author of “Start with Why”), and on women empowerment that bypasses existing supra and national development frameworks.

Dynamic interactions between sustainability and competitiveness in construction firms

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 842-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui-Dong Chang ◽  
Jian Zuo ◽  
Veronica Soebarto ◽  
Zhen-Yu Zhao ◽  
George Zillante
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Synthesis Process ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Dynamic Transition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Managers ◽  
Construction Firms ◽  
Political Environments ◽  
Context Dependent

Purpose Sustainability and competitiveness have received extensive attentions. Despite a large number of studies on sustainability and competitiveness in the construction industry, little research has been conducted to holistically explore the interactions between these two concepts. From a dynamic transition perspective, the purpose of this paper is to link sustainability and competitiveness of construction firms by developing a Sustainability-Competitiveness Dynamic Interaction Framework (SCDIF). Design/methodology/approach Conceptual theory-building approach was adopted to develop the conceptual framework. It is an iterative analysis and synthesis process, which involves reading literature, identifying commonalities and differences, synthesizing, proposing an initial framework, collecting additional literature, and revisiting and revising the framework. Findings There are complex interactions between sustainability and competitiveness of construction firms. This leads to uncertain relationships between sustainability and competitiveness, which is context dependent. Under evolving economic and socio-political environments, sustainability and competitiveness of construction firms could transition from mutually exclusive to mutually supportive, and finally merge into “sustainable competitiveness.” Research limitations/implications A SCDIF proposed in this study demonstrates that the interactions between sustainability and competitiveness evolves according to the evolving economic and socio-political environments and firms’ strategies, and thus the relationships and interactions between sustainability and competitiveness are context dependent. This framework helps corporate managers to understand how corporate sustainability and competitiveness interact with each other, thereby informing their decision-making of sustainability strategy. Similarly, the framework provides useful references for policymakers to understand the mechanisms of transitioning industries toward sustainable competitiveness. Originality/value The proposed framework offers a new perspective for understanding sustainability and competitiveness. From the dynamic transition perspective, this study effectively illustrates that the interactions between sustainability and competitiveness evolves according to the evolving economic and socio-political environments and firms’ strategies. Compared to existing approaches, the dynamic and holistic approach proposed in this paper provides the capacity to capture the complexity of sustainability and competitiveness.

Reframing “building back better” for post-disaster housing design: a community perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yenny Rahmayati
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Disaster Survivors ◽  
Common Concept ◽  
The Common ◽  
Housing Reconstruction ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose This study aims to reframe the common concept of post-disaster reconstruction “building back better”, especially in the context of post-disaster housing design. Design/methodology/approach An Aceh post-tsunami housing reconstruction project is used as a case study with qualitative methodology through in-depth interviews of selected respondents. Findings The study findings have shown that the term “building back better” is not a familiar term for housing recipients. Whichever different personal background post-disaster survivors come from, whether they are housewife, civil servant, fisherman, university student, businessman or a professional, none have ever heard this phrase. All found it hard to understand the term. This study argues that the “building back better” concept is good in policy but not working in practice. As a result, housing recipients not only were dissatisfied with their new houses but also found that the new housing configurations profoundly altered their traditional way of life. In light of these findings, the paper argues that the concept of “building back better” needs to be reframed to take account of the cultural individual and communal needs and wants of post-disaster survivors. Research limitations/implications This study discusses only one aspect of post-disaster reconstruction that is the design of housing reconstruction. Practical implications Results from this study provide a practical contribution for reconstruction actors especially designers, architects and planners. It helps them to reconsider the common concepts they have used for post-disaster reconstruction processes particularly in designing housing reconstruction projects. Originality/value This study focuses on the question of how tsunami survivors in Aceh reacted to the design of their new post-tsunami houses and what they had done themselves to make their homes a better and nicer place to live within their own cultural needs. This study also sought to understand what motivated the opinions the respondents had about the design of housing reconstruction after the tsunami in Aceh generally. In addition, the study investigated whether survivors knew the phrase and the credo of “building back better” in a post-disaster context.

scholarly journals Living-transforming disaster relief shelter: a conceptual approach for sustainable post-disaster housing

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Ghanbarzadeh Ghomi ◽  
Gayan Wedawatta ◽  
Kanchana Ginige ◽  
Bingunath Ingirige
Keyword(s):  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Efficient Tool ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Housing Projects ◽  
Housing Reconstruction ◽  
Post Disaster

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of post-disaster housing reconstruction projects, propose the conceptual living-transforming disaster relief shelter (LTFDR-shelter) approach where temporary shelter is incrementally transformed into a more permanent dwelling by using living technologies and investigate its applicability to provide sustainable post-disaster housing following natural-hazard-induced disasters.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey with 120 household recipients of three Sri Lankan post-disaster housing projects was employed to explore how the post-disaster housing projects have performed against the occupants' expectations. Furthermore, the new proposed LTFDR-shelter conceptual approach's applicability to address the existing issues found in the study was investigated.FindingsThe paper evaluates and identifies the physical and technical, and socio-economic performance issues of post-disaster housing and discusses the applicability of the proposed LTFDR-shelter conceptual approach as an efficient tool to adequately improve the identified factors integrating three phases of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction employing living technology.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the study's scope was limited to the occupant view of the performance of post-disaster housing in Sri Lanka, the findings and conceptual LTFDR-shelter approach could be of particular relevance to other developing countries affected by similar disasters. Further research is recommended to investigate and develop this concept in depth.Originality/valueThis study lays the conceptual foundation for a new theoretical approach in post-disaster housing, which encourages more interdisciplinary collaborations and empirical investigations that potentially enhance post-disaster housing performance and facilitates the application of living technology in the built environment.

scholarly journals The interplay between home and host logics of accountability in multinational corporations (MNCs): the case of the Fundão dam disaster

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1761-1789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Safari ◽  
Vincent Bicudo de Castro ◽  
Ileana Steccolini
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Institutional Pressures ◽  
Major Purpose ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dominant Logic ◽  
Disaster Situation ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Post Disaster

PurposeThe major purpose of this paper is to answer the overarching questions of how multinational corporations (MNCs) address the multiple institutional logics of accountability and pressures of the field in which they operate and how the dominant logic changes and shifts in response to such pressures pre- and post-disaster situation.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interpretive textual analyses of multiple longitudinal data sets are conducted to study the case of the Fundão dam disaster. The data sources include historical documents, academic articles and public institutional press releases from 2000 to 2016, covering the environment leading to the case study incident and its aftermath.FindingsThe findings reveal how MNCs' plurality of and, at times, conflicting institutional logics shape the organizational behaviors, actions and nonactions of actors pre-, peri- and post-disaster. More specifically, the predominance bureaucracy embedded in the state-corporatist logic of the host country before a disaster allows the strategic subunit of an MNC to continue operating while causing various forms of environmental damage until a globally visible disaster triggers a reversal in the dominant logic toward the embrace of wider, global, emergent social and environmental accountability.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to discussions regarding the need to explore in depth of how MNCs respond to multiple institutional pressures in practice. This study extends the literature concerning disaster accountability, state-corporatism and logic-shifting by exploring how MNCs respond to the plurality of institutional logics and pressures over time and showing how, in some cases, logics not only reinforce but also contrast with each other and how a globally exposed disaster may trigger a shift in the dominant logic governing MNCs' responses.

Sustainability evaluation of post-disaster housing reconstruction after 55 years: Rudak village, Iran

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 294-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niloofar Mohtat ◽  
Akbar Haji Ibrahim Zargar
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The People ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
Housing Reconstruction ◽  
The Village ◽  
Local Materials ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose Focusing on Rudak, a village destroyed in the Buin-Zahra earthquake of 1962 in Qazvin, Iran, this paper aims to evaluate the reconstruction of this village in terms of sustainability. Rudak reconstruction has left long-term consequences on the physical structure of the village, as some of the people refused the constructed houses and built their own ones. Hence, after more than 50 years, this village is now consisted of two physically different neighborhoods. Examining the long-term consequences of this reconstruction through comparing housing and physical structure of the two different neighborhoods contains valuable lessons in terms of sustainability because sustainable reconstruction results unveil in long term. Design/methodology/approach Using sustainable reconstruction theory as the conceptual framework, this research investigates social, economic and environmental sustainability of Rudak housing reconstruction and that leads to comprehensive lessons. The study has a qualitative method and is based on fieldwork allowing for dynamic interviews with the community. Furthermore, data are analyzed through descriptive and comparative approaches. Findings The research concluded that sustainability related implications of post-disaster reconstruction policies are not restricted to the time of reconstruction or a limited interval after that. Lack of livelihood considerations, providing all people with similar houses and nontransparent decisions, resulted in unsustainable consequences such as building vulnerable extensions by people, social segregation and people unwillingness for participation. However, this experience was sustainable in terms of some other factors. For example, using local materials for building the structures of the new houses, putting the houses on the natural bedrock and building public services for people were sustainable measurements. Originality/value This paper is a rare example of research focusing on impacts of post-disaster reconstruction after more than 50 years. It contains valuable lessons for planners and architects.

scholarly journals Real options analysis of revenue risk sharing in post-disaster housing reconstruction

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Vahdatmanesh ◽  
Afshin Firouzi ◽  
James Olabode Bamidele Rotimi
Keyword(s):  
Real Options ◽  
Risk Sharing ◽  
Real Options Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Valuation Model ◽  
Land Readjustment ◽  
The Government ◽  
Housing Reconstruction ◽  
Private Investors ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose Post-disaster housing reconstruction (PDHR) demands a considerable percentage of global property investment, yet the post-disaster environment presents intricate challenges to reconstruction financing for governments and at the same time, revenue uncertainty for private investors. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology for tackling land shortage and the financial challenges of PDHR in the aftermath of a disaster. Design/methodology/approach This study developed a methodology based on a combined minimum revenue guarantee and maximum revenue cap model using a well-established real options analysis (ROA) for revenue risk sharing in PDHR projects and land readjustment (LR) for finance. The applicability of the purported model is demonstrated through an illustrative example. Findings The results show that flexibility in the options could increase the PDHR contractor’s risk profile by increasing the expected value of the contractor investment and reducing the probability of investment loss. On the other side, a cap on the contractor revenue stream would allow the government to benefit from any excess in revenue and would counterbalance the value of the option. Practical implications The framework proposed in this study could serve as a practical risk-revenue sharing in PDHR projects. Governments and policymakers could use the findings to enable the successful delivery of PDHR projects and consequently bring the quality of life of affected people to pre-disaster conditions. Originality/value This study can be considered as a first attempt toward the use of the Australian barrier style options structure, and the trinomial lattice valuation model in PDHR projects, which incorporates LR, public-private partnerships, governmental guarantees and PDHR concepts in one ROA-based framework.

Understanding the impacts of post-disaster relocation on family dynamics and resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paoloregel Samonte
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Family Dynamics ◽  
Family Cohesion ◽  
Family Resilience ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Social Unit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Family ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose The purpose of this study is to arrive at a conceptual roadmap that may be used to analyze the impacts of post-disaster relocation on a family’s dynamics and how this, in turn, affects their resilience to future disasters. Existing literature shows that the role of the family as a social unit is often overlooked in disaster research. Ultimately, this paper seeks to elevate the place of the family and its internal dynamics as a vital determinant of family resilience in a post-disaster relocation setting. Design/methodology/approach The study is a result of a systematic literature review of four interrelated topics, namely, families in disasters; post-disaster relocation; disaster resilience and family resilience. Findings The literature review resulted in an exploration of the experiences of families amidst post-disaster relocation. Such findings were linked towards potential impacts on family dynamics, which then resulted in the study’s proposed roadmap. Originality/value The study is a novel attempt at coming up with a conceptual framework that may guide future scholars in determining the effects of family dynamics on a family’s overall disaster resilience amid post-disaster relocation. It is hoped that the use of such a framework will guide policymakers in crafting institutional reforms that take into account family cohesion in disaster relocation efforts.

Significant accomplishment of the post-disaster housing reconstruction: A community perspective from 2015 earthquake affected communities in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-128
Author(s):  
Mukti Suvedi
Keyword(s):  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Private Housing ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
The Government ◽  
Housing Reconstruction ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Post Disaster

In spite of the significant grants and supports after 2015 earthquake, housing reconstruction faced numerous challenges in addressing the needs of the disaster affected communities. The earthquake threatened almost all aspects of the societies in14 of the most affected districts. Government of Nepal and various development partners, including bilateral agencies, were involved in the implementation of housing reconstruction projects in different districts. All these initiatives in communities yielded diverse results. Because of the resulting disquiet from the public, the post-disaster housing reconstruction is becoming the concern and dilemma to researchers, development and humanitarian organizations worldwide. It is evident that private housing reconstruction is complicated and slow process, which is knotted with social, economic, and political dimensions. The paper highlights the significant contributing factors for accomplishing the housing reconstruction after the earthquake. A multi-dimensional holistic approach interprets the nexus of successful reconstruction, which are discussed in the paper. This paper serves as a valuable resource that highlights the significant factors for the government, development and humanitarian partners, and researchers.

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