Rebuilding After Disasters: From Emergency to Sustainability

Disasters are not natural. Natural events such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc. become disasters because of the fragile relations that exist between the natural, human and built environments. Sadly, major disasters will always occur in towns and cities in the developing world where resources are limited, people are vulnerable and needs are particularly great. The prevailing state of emergency challenges thoughtful and sustainable planning and construction. Yet it is possible, in theory and in practice, to construct them in a way that provides a sustainable environment and improved conditions for current and future generations.

Rebuilding After Disasters emphasizes the role of the built environment in the re-establishment of lives and sustainable livelihoods after disasters. Expert contributors explain the principal challenges facing professionals and practitioners in the building industry.

This book will be of great value to decision makers, students and researchers in the fields of architecture, social sciences, engineering, planning, geography, and disaster recovery.

Gonzalo Lizarralde is an architect and Director of grif (the IF Research Group) at the Université de Montréal, Canada.

Cassidy Johnson is Lecturer at the Development Planning Unit, University College London and Director of the MSc programme in Building and Urban Design.

Colin Davidson is Emeritus Professor of Architecture, at the Université de Montréal, Canada.

They are the founding members of i-Rec – Information and Research for Reconstruction –  an international network of researchers and practitioners involved in post-natural-disaster reconstruction.