Disaster recovery as participation: lessons from the Shaky Isles

Suzanne Vallance ()

Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, 2015, vol. 75, issue 2, 1287-1301

Abstract: Despite broad scholarly consensus that public participation in disaster recovery is highly desirable, in practice, appropriate and effective forms of community involvement are difficult to achieve. Drawing on both non-disaster participatory planning theory and disaster recovery literature, this paper explores a possible relationship between participation in specific activities (the ‘substance’ of recovery) and participation in decision-making (the ‘processes’ framing recovery activities). This raises questions about a possible connection between ‘token’ forms of participation and a similarly ‘token’ recovery and indicates a need to better understand how ‘successful’ recoveries are measured. In addressing these questions, this paper documents some different forms of participation witnessed in Canterbury, New Zealand—the so-called Shaky Isles—following an extended earthquake sequence. I conclude that recovery as participation requires a more nuanced understanding that recognizes the co-constitutional nature of procedural and substantial aspects. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Disaster recovery; Public participation; Community resilience; Canterbury earthquakes; Co-production; New Zealand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1007/s11069-014-1361-7

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