Abstract
Concentrated rural settlement (CRS) reconstruction was promoted as a sustainable rural reconstruction way after the Wenchuan earthquake in China. Despite the various benefits of CRS, haphazard CRS reconstruction presents risks to future sustainable development. However, such risks have been rarely investigated. Thus, this study examines the risk factors with eight CRS reconstruction cases after the Wenchuan earthquake. The existence and interactions of economic, social, environmental, and disaster relief risks are observed after reconstruction. A conceptual model is proposed for systematically interpreting the risks. Results obtained can help the local government judiciously consider the risk factors in order to achieve sustainable development when initiating rapid reconstruction.
Highlights
The Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred on 12 May 2008, resulted in major losses in China
This study investigated the risk of Concentrated rural settlement (CRS) reconstruction on the basis of the factors affecting sustainable development, which is one of the most important reconstruction objectives emphasized by the government and the academe
The critical risk factors include difficulty of income growth, low level of employment skills, mismatch of living and production ways, insufficient public budget, difficulty of land adjustment, poverty resulted by illness, disordered community management, difficulty of satisfying the needs of entertainment, unclear responsibility of government, insufficient capacity of waste disposal, and insufficient disaster relief education
Summary
The Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred on 12 May 2008, resulted in major losses in China. Rural areas face more disadvantages than urban areas due to a lack of quality infrastructure and effective disaster education [3]. The number of collapsed houses was estimated to be 826,700 with floor area of 12,403 hectares in the seriously quake-hit rural areas of Sichuan Province during the earthquake. These numbers are 2.2 and 4.2 times of those observed in the severely affected urban areas of Sichuan Province [4]. As housing damage is usually a major loss in rural China, housing reconstruction, is placed as the topmost priority after disasters
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
