The sense of home placeness in housing recovery following bam earthquake

Abstract

The widespread incidence of natural disasters with increasing rate of casualties highlights the significance of post–disaster studies. Consequently, housing reconstruction programmes regarded as an interdisciplinary theme of concern plays a crucial role in attaining an effective level of recovery following natural disasters. Beyond this point, coping with “home loss” challenge is a notable experience for affected communities facing such conflicts. This study examines the sense of “home place” concept from residents’ points of view following the Bam 2003 earthquake and housing reconstruction efforts. It aims to explore the significance of the home place in the healing process from sense of loss following natural disasters using the residents’ perceptions and their means of expressions leading to long–term satisfaction of new housing. The study implements the mix of qualitative, quantitative, and visual methods to suit the socio–cultural concerns as well as the specifications of the context. The study explores different aspects of contributing factors to the interdisciplinary study of the post–disaster housing recovery process by questionnaire, visual base approach to observe the means of expression in the new housing, and interviews to find out the reasons and preferences. The stratified sample selection is used to provide a clear vision of the local community in dealing with an unexpected natural calamity and several dimensions of the concept of “home place” are tested. The findings indicate a positive correlation between expressing positive attribute about the newly built homes and the level of participation in the reconstruction process. It is implied from this research that there are certain clues through which housing would accelerate the recovery process from sense of loss. In this regard, the residents who had opportunity to participate directly in the new housing process feel more attached to their homes and have tried obviously to personalize their home settings as well. In addition, the framework is suggested to evaluate the degree of success of the post–disaster housing reconstruction efforts.