Living-Transforming Disaster Relief Shelter: A Conceptual Approach for Sustainable Post-Disaster Housing

Sara Ghanbarzadeh Ghomi*, Gayan Wedawatta, Kanchana Ginige, Bingunath Ingirige

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
451 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of post-disaster housing reconstruction projects, propose the conceptual living-transforming disaster relief shelter (LTFDR-shelter) approach where temporary shelter is incrementally transformed into a more permanent dwelling by using living technologies and investigate its applicability to provide sustainable post-disaster housing following natural-hazard-induced disasters.

Design/methodology/approach:
A questionnaire survey with 120 household recipients of three Sri Lankan post-disaster housing projects was employed to explore how the post-disaster housing projects have performed against the occupants' expectations. Furthermore, the new proposed LTFDR-shelter conceptual approach's applicability to address the existing issues found in the study was investigated.

Findings:
The paper evaluates and identifies the physical and technical, and socio-economic performance issues of post-disaster housing and discusses the applicability of the proposed LTFDR-shelter conceptual approach as an efficient tool to adequately improve the identified factors integrating three phases of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction employing living technology.

Research limitations/implications:
Although the study's scope was limited to the occupant view of the performance of post-disaster housing in Sri Lanka, the findings and conceptual LTFDR-shelter approach could be of particular relevance to other developing countries affected by similar disasters. Further research is recommended to investigate and develop this concept in depth.

Originality/value:
This study lays the conceptual foundation for a new theoretical approach in post-disaster housing, which encourages more interdisciplinary collaborations and empirical investigations that potentially enhance post-disaster housing performance and facilitates the application of living technology in the built environment.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)687-704
Number of pages18
JournalBuilt Environment Project and Asset Management
Volume11
Issue number4
Early online date22 Jun 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Oct 2021

Keywords

  • Housing
  • Living technology
  • Performance
  • Post-disaster
  • Transform

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