Post-disaster permanent housing: user participation and long-term satisfaction

Abstract

There is empirical evidence on varying levels of user satisfaction with the provided post-disaster permanent housing based on their levels of participation. This study compares non-participating and participating users’ long-term satisfaction with permanent housing constructed under the REKOMPAK (a community-based reconstruction program) after the 2010 Merapi volcano eruption. The results show that both groups have recorded highly similar levels of satisfaction with their permanent housing attributes with only four (out of 38) attributes that are statistically significantly different between the groups. These findings provide suggestive evidence on the maturity of the REKOMPAK program since it was created in 2005. This has implications for local authorities, humanitarian and other agencies in their decisions to adapt the REKOMPAK or other similar community-based programs for post-disaster reconstruction.