In December 2004, a seaquake shook the Indian Ocean, producing a powerful tsunami. The greatest damage occurred in Indonesia, nearest the quake's epicenter. The Asian Development Bank responded with a $290 million grant under the Earthquake and Tsunami Emergency Support Project. Housing accounted for more of this grant than any other sector. While this book focuses on housing, more broadly it is about how implementing post-disaster projects under exceedingly difficult conditions can achieve success, while simultaneously incorporating the community-based approach recommended by donors. The book's refreshing glimpse into on-the-ground, post-disaster project implementation contains important lessons for future disaster-response donor assistance.

This book examines the different roles of architects in rural post-disaster housing and their impact on the degree of success of the projects from villagers' perspective. It is based around the building process of three case studies affected by the tsunami of 2004 in rural South India. It identifies the critical parameters and skills required at project level during the course of the building process. The results from villages and interviews with experienced international and Indian architects, engineers and NGO representatives show that architects are often poorly equipped to work in this context. Gertrud Tauber concludes with a proposal for a course to help architects in the building of people-oriented housing in post-disaster environments.

Dramatic scenes of devastation and suffering caused by disasters such as the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, are viewed with shock and horror by millions of us across the world. What we rarely see, however, are the international politics of disaster aid, mitigation and prevention that condition the collective response to natural catastrophes around the world. In this book, respected Canadian environmental sociologist John Hannigan argues that the global community of nations has failed time and again in establishing an effective and binding multilateral mechanism for coping with disasters, especially in the more vulnerable countries of the South. Written in an accessible and even-handed manner, Disasters without Borders it is the first comprehensive account of the key milestones, debates, controversies and research relating to the international politics of natural disasters. Tracing the historical evolution of this policy field from its humanitarian origins in WWI right up to current efforts to cast climate change as the prime global driver of disaster risk, it highlights the ongoing mismatch between the way disaster has been conceptualised and the institutional architecture in place to manage it. The book’s bold conclusion predicts the confluence of four emerging trends - politicisation/militarisation, catastrophic scenario building, privatisation of risk, and quantification, which could create a new system of disaster management wherein 'insurance logic' will replace humanitarian concern as the guiding principle. Disasters Without Borders is an ideal introductory text for students, lecturers and practitioners in the fields of international development studies, disaster management, politics and international affairs, and environmental geography/sociology.

In addressing humanitarian crises, the international community has long understood the need to extend beyond providing immediate relief, and to engage with long-term recovery activities and the prevention of similar crises in the future. However, this continuum from short-term relief to rehabilitation and development has often proved difficult to achieve. This book aims to shed light on the continuum of humanitarian crisis management, particularly from the viewpoint of major bilateral donors and agencies. Focusing on cases of armed conflicts and disasters, the authors describe the evolution of approaches and lessons learnt in practice when moving from emergency relief to recovery and prevention of future crises. Drawing on an extensive research project conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute, this book compares how a range of international organizations, bilateral cooperation agencies, NGOs, and research institutes have approached the continuum in international humanitarian crisis management. The book draws on six humanitarian crises case studies, each resulting from armed conflict or natural disasters: Timor-Leste, South Sudan, the Syrian crisis, Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and Typhoon Yolanda. The book concludes by proposing a common conceptual framework designed to appeal to different stakeholders involved in crisis management. Following on from the World Humanitarian Summit, where a new way of working on the humanitarian-development nexus was highlighted as one of five major priority trends, this book is a timely contribution to the debate which should interest researchers of humanitarian studies, conflict and peace studies, and disaster risk-management.

The global increase in the number of slums calls for policies which improve the conditions of the urban poor, sustainably. This volume provides an extensive overview of current housing policies in Asia, Africa and Latin America and presents the facts and trends of recent housing policies. The chapters provide ideas and tools for pro-poor interventions with respect to the provision of land for housing, building materials, labour, participation and finance. The book looks at the role of the various stakeholders involved in such interventions, including national and local governments, private sector organisations, NGOs and Community-based Organisations.

Urbanization in Asia is expected to reach 55% by 2030 and 64% by 2050 to constitute 53% of the world's urban population and contribute half the world's gross domestic product. But as cities swell, they also struggle with environmental degradation, traffic congestion, inadequate urban infrastructure, and lack of basic civic services. This manual prepared by Urban Sector Group of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) provides guidelines for conducting rapid urban assessments. It is guided by the Urban Operational Plan 2012-2020 which outlines ADB's support to its members in developing their urban economies through the 3E approach (Economy, Environment, and Equity). It presents a framework providing a context for the city-level 3E tool kits (Tool Kit for Rapid Economic Assessment, Planning, and Development of Cities in Asia; Green City Development Tool Kit; and Enabling Inclusive Cities: Tool Kit for Inclusive Urban Development).

With growing awareness of the devastation caused by major natural disasters, alongside integration of governance and technology networks, the parameters of humanitarian aid are becoming more global. At the same time, humanitarian instruments are increasingly recognizing the centrality of local participation. Drawing on six case studies and a survey of sixty-nine members of the relief sector, this book suggests that the key to the efficacy of post-disaster recovery is the primacy given to local actors in the management, direction and design of relief programs. Where local partnership and knowledge generation and application is ongoing, cohesive, meaningful and inclusive, disaster relief efforts are more targeted, cost-effective, efficient and timely. Governing Disasters: Engaging Local Populations in Humanitarian Relief examines the interplay between law, governance and collaborative decision making with international, state, private sector and community actors in order to understand the dynamics of a global decentralized yet coordinated process of post-disaster humanitarian assistance.