Resourcing challenges for post-disaster housing reconstruction: A comparative analysis

Post-disaster housing reconstruction is likely to suffer project deficiencies in relation to the availability of resources. Inefficiencies in dealing with resource shortages in the aftermath of a catastrophe can trigger economic and environmental impacts on the affected areas. Based on data collected from field research in China, Indonesia, and Australia, three types of resource-led reconstruction strategies are compared: government driven, donor driven, and market driven. Conventional interventions from the Chinese government (e.g. price restrictions and discouraging profiteering to regulate the market) were unable to meet the long-term reconstruction needs after the Wenchuan earthquake (2008). Complexity inherent in both internal and external environments in Indonesia compromised donors' efforts in post-tsunami (2004) resource procurement. Market-oriented resourcing processes in Australian bushfire (2009) reconstruction are unlikely to succeed without facilitated solutions from the government and institutions. The answer to effective resource management for post-disaster reconstruction lies in the appropriateness of the responses and improvements to address resourcing challenges. The success of resourcing depends on multi-stakeholder collaboration and the development of polices, plans, and tools to allow market flexibility, donor management, and government intervention.