Rebuilding resilient homeland: an NGO-led post-Lushan earthquake experimental reconstruction program

Abstract

There have been many practical programs suggested for building resilient cities and communities, many of which have been driven by governments to focus on disaster prevention rather than focusing on the needs of the affected population. The rebuilding resilient homeland (RRH) program discussed in this paper was a post-Lushan earthquake reconstruction, NGO-led, people-oriented experimental program. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to determine the methods used by the NGOs to lead the reconstruction program for “building back better” and identify the role that NGOs can play in state–civil society relations. Harnessing information gathered from fieldwork, interviews, and document reviews, this paper offers an in-depth case study of the RRH program, with a specific focus on the “resilience” associated with infrastructure, capability, mechanisms, and culture, and the “homeland” associated with safe homes, safe communities, safe schools, and a safe future. The program review revealed useful references for the future development of resilient cities and communities, with people-oriented strategies, community involvement and multi-stakeholder collaborations being the three most salient features. This experimental program also revealed that NGOs and governments could use the institutional opportunities arising from disasters to develop cooperative programs to “build back better” and further facilitate state–civil society relations.