Measuring housing well-being of disaster affected persons in Chennai (India)

Abstract

The impact of disasters on human well-being extends beyond loss of assets. Asset based compensation approach, usually in monetary form, that the governments adopt for reconstruction of losses of affected persons is marred by challenges in identification of compensable disasters; identification of eligible claimants; identification of compensable losses; and valuation of losses. The largest asset that a household possesses is their house, which suffers major damage. Loss to a house goes beyond the asset itself and affects many dimensions of human well-being. The question this paper examines is, what are the dimensions of well-being, that housing and its location, as resource, have been able to reconstruct for households who were resettled in resettlement colonies of Chennai (India)? Using the framework proposed by Martin Binder, this paper identifies the dimensions of housing well-being and the extent to which these are reconstructed through post-disaster relocation, using the case of households relocated in resettlement colonies in Chennai (India) after disasters since 2004. This paper reveals that housing, and its location contributes to well-being, which is much more than its asset characteristics. Post-disaster resonstruction through relocation and provision of housing must create those opportunities that contribute to well-being. Opportunities for higher income, neighbourhood security, social capital, safety level in the neighbourhood, access to informal/social system for childcare, social and economic associations are significant contributors to housing well-being.