After Great Disasters : An in-Depth Analysis of How Six Countries Managed Community Recovery

As climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, urban planners and government officials require new insights and strategies to better organize for recovery after a disaster. This book identifies lessons from around the world to help communities do just that. Authors Johnson and Olshansky--experts with 25 years of collaborative experience as recovery planners onsite of major disasters--consider the processes and outcomes of community recovery and reconstruction following major disasters in six countries: China, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States. Post-disaster reconstruction offers opportunities to improve construction and design standards, renew infrastructure, create new land use arrangements, reinvent economies, and improve governance. If done well, reconstruction can help break the cycle of disaster-related impacts and losses, and improve the resilience of a city or region. Great natural disasters are rare, but their aftermath can change the fortunes of a city or region forever. This Policy Focus Report and its companion bookidentifylessons from different parts of the world to help communities and government leaders better organize for recovery after future disasters. The authors consider the processes and outcomes of community recovery and reconstruction following major disasters in six China, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States. If done well, reconstruction can help break the cycle of disaster-related impacts and losses, and improve the resilience of a city or region. A distillation of its companion book, this report identifies lessons learned by planners and government officials of six countries that have recovered from major disasters: China, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the United States. The authors offer case studies and recommendations for communities and governments that reflect a set of core principles: primacy of information, stakeholder involvement, and transparency.