Social reconstruction in post seismic emergency

From Firenze University Press: Social reconstruction in post seismic emergency

Ludovica Gregori, University of Florence

The editorial team of Firenze University Press poses the question: “Why is post-earthquake social reconstruction more crucial than merely rebuilding physical structures?”

“Even if a building is made of paper, it can become permanent if people love it”
— Shigeru Ban

After a natural or man-made disaster the population and their territory are affected by more or less hash changes. Some of these effects can cause a trauma at a individual level and a wider community one.

Before stepping into the description of the trauma and its phases, it is important to clarify the scenario in which this is analysed and other related concepts. First of all, the title itself of this contribution wants to underline the contrast between the current approach to disaster recovery and the one assumed by this research. The term reconstruction is generally used to indicate the process of material re-building process of an area destroyed by an earthquake that is often seen as the solution to all the issues of these fragile territories. The word reconstruction is here instead referred to the social system of a territory hit by an earthquake, which is something that policymakers, planners and architects should focus on much more as many no-profit associations do instead. It is evident how an earthquake puts in direct connection social and psychological difficulties with architecture due to the immediate loss of the built environment.

Quoting E. L. Quarantelli (1999, p. 2) on literature cases: «Those that use reconstruction seem to stress almost exclusively the postimpact rebuilding of the physical structures destroyed or damaged in a disaster. For social scientists and most operational personnel that is not the most important dimension to consider.

It is nevertheless what some individuals and groups primarily attempt to do — putting up buildings and material infrastructures to replace those impacted by disasters.»

Social reconstruction prioritizes healing individual traumas and mending community bonds, which are often shattered alongside buildings in seismic disasters.

DOI: 10.36253/979–12–215–0872-7
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