Differentiation and integration: off-site resettlement planning practice in New Beichuan after 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake

Abstract

This article explores the spatial differentiation and integration between the post-disaster victims and the indigenous peasants 8 years after a rapid off-site resettlement oriented by governments in New Beichuan. Data were broadly collected from placement documents, questionnaires, interviews and site measurement by empirical research and on-site investigation in 2014. The resettlement plan was introduced and analyzed for housing resettlement, open space systems, public facilities allocation and resettlement policies. Based on statistical analysis of the questionnaire data and observation on the usage of the built environment, problems with the spatial usage and mismatches between the specific spatial requirements and subjective planning intention of integration are analyzed and preliminary findings are shown. The results showed that the excessive pursuit of speed and deficiency in economically self-sustaining efforts might contribute to insufficient attention given to spatial, social and economic aspects and leads to inevitable and long-standing problems, such as housing quality problems, neighborhoods management and security concerns, contradictions between the housing layout and local living habits, different spatial usage preferences between the indigenous peasants and post-disaster migrants, and disequilibrium of public facility allocation.

Factors Influencing Housing Satisfaction in Post-Disaster Resettlement: A Case of Nepal

“…This ensures that the houses are not merely visually pleasing, but also functionally suitable to increase residential satisfaction and overall well-being. Furthermore, in line with multiple studies [11,14,22,26,31,38,59,81,82], the study identified dissatisfaction among resettled households regarding the layout of permanent houses in resettlement. The findings of this study are consistent with previous research conducted by several researchers [23,26,32,59], highlighting that the houses in Panipokhari also overlooked the need for space for addition and modification, a crucial factor for housing satisfaction.…”

“…Furthermore, in line with multiple studies [11,14,22,26,31,38,59,81,82], the study identified dissatisfaction among resettled households regarding the layout of permanent houses in resettlement. The findings of this study are consistent with previous research conducted by several researchers [23,26,32,59], highlighting that the houses in Panipokhari also overlooked the need for space for addition and modification, a crucial factor for housing satisfaction. The provision of sufficient space for future modifications is particularly crucial in communities where households often experience changes in lifestyle, family size, or economic circumstances.…”

“…These houses were designed in a modern urban style with a flat system, overlooking the unique needs and lifestyles of the households. Consequently, despite the perceived importance given to modern house designs, dissatisfaction arose due to the standardized monotype housing, which failed to cater to the specific requirements of the resettled households, as highlighted in various scholarly works [11][12][13]23,26,31,44,49,59,[76][77][78].…”

“…Iuchi and Mutter [58] also stressed that the consideration of local culture will increase community involvement, resulting in higher satisfaction and a successful resettlement outcome. Zhang et al [59] pointed out that the major problems faced by the resettled households were contradictions between the housing layout and local lifestyle and culture, the size of the room, a monotonous and uniform design, and a non-flexible design. Chen et al [60] revealed that the availability of farmland rather than the size was important as farmland was needed for the livelihood of the rural resettled household.…”