Post-disaster recovery in urban and rural communities: Challenges and strategies

The reconstruction of the houses that were destroyed or sustained significant damage from naturally-triggered disasters in rural and urban communities is one of the first steps towards physical, environmental, social, and economic recovery; however, various pervasive challenges negatively affect the success of the process. This study identifies and categorizes the global barriers to a successful housing reconstruction process after naturally-triggered disasters occurring different parts of the world. The barriers in each class are ranked according to the frequency that they are cited and/or mentioned in the reviewed literature, and strategies for effectively addressing the barriers are identified. For this study, 209 peer-reviewed articles were reviewed in detail and analyzed based on the name of the journal, year of study, disaster type, and region of disaster. Sixty-nine (69) barriers were identified and categorized into five main categories: management and coordination, resources, social and cultural, physical and territorial, and legal. Based on the time of adoption, 26 strategies to effectively address the barriers were identified and categorized into four main phases: pre-disaster, emergency, restoration, and reconstruction. The outcomes of this study will help decision makers identify the barriers in a timely manner in order to allocate resources effectively and improve the performance of post-disaster housing reconstruction in both rural and urban communities.