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East Asia & Pacific is facing some great development challenges today: urbanization, protection of the environment, the need to find renewable energy sources and many others. This site wants to create a conversation around those important issues. More »

reconstruction

Four years on: What China got right when rebuilding after the Sichuan earthquake

Submitted by Vivian Argueta Bernal, co-authors: Paul Procee on Fri, 2012-05-11 16:11
The devastation from the Sichuan earthquake was immense; the recovery, impressive.

Four years ago on May 12, 2008, the world was stunned by the news of an 8-magnitude massive earthquake that struck Wenchuan of Sichuan Province and affected, in total, ten provinces in Southwestern China.  

Official estimates put the number of affected people at 46.25 million, with some 69,227 deceased, 17,923 missing and 15 million displaced from their homes.

During our visits to those areas back then, we witnessed how water, electricity and gas systems were largely paralyzed and telecommunications and transportation severely disrupted.  General infrastructure was also overwhelmingly damaged, with approximately 7,444 schools and 11,028 medical institutions and 34,125 kilometers of highways devastated, in a region that was already among the poorest and most vulnerable in China.

The overall direct economic loss was estimated to be RMB 845 billion (US$ 130 billion).

In face of these severe human, material, economic and environmental damages, the Chinese government immediately set in motion a comprehensive relief and reconstruction program.

Indonesia: A return to Aceh amidst hopes for peace and prosperity

Submitted by Dini Djalal on Tue, 2012-03-27 10:18

Juga tersedia di Bahasa

My first trip to Aceh was in August 1998, four months after the resignation of former President Soeharto. It was the height of Indonesia's pro-democracy Reformasi movement, and many journalists thought that travel permits were still required, as it had been for decades. My friend and I were venturing as 'tourists'. In many villages, the legacy of repression remained: razed houses, shuttered schools, and households run by widows. Poverty was unavoidable; violence and economic growth are often incompatible.

Seven years on: Remembering the tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia

Submitted by Dave Lawrence on Sat, 2011-12-24 13:43

Also available in Bahasa

The number just kept getting bigger and bigger. At first it was a staggering 13,000. The next day, over 25,000. And then, 58,000. By the end of the week, on January 1st, 2005, the death toll of the Asian Tsunami had reached 122,000. Yet the number kept climbing, and nobody knew when it would stop. 

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

 
 

In Queensland, no great barrier to flood recovery

Submitted by Henrike Brecht on Thu, 2011-05-05 15:56

The New Year was not so happy in Queensland, Australia. In December 2010 and January 2011, floods swept across the state and at the beginning of February 2011, cyclone Yasi, a category 5 storm, struck near Cairns. Dozens died, hundreds were evacuated, thousands were affected and an excess of US$15 billion of damages were caused. A state of emergency was declared in all but one of the 75 councils. Seventy percent of the state was impacted; an area five times the size of the United Kingdom. 

Rebuilding paradise – Samoa's recovery from the 2009 tsunami

Submitted by Tobias Haque on Thu, 2011-04-21 15:44

On the surface, the pace of life in the Pacific island country of Samoa is slow. Island time. That’s an impression that’s reinforced when touring the idyllic string of resorts and beach fales (small timber and thatch tourist cottages, often without walls and open to the tropical breeze) along the South East coast of Upolu, Samoa. You can watch the heat rise in a haze across the ridiculously tranquil blue waters and golden sands, as coconut palms wave, and tourists enjoy a weekend drink in the seafront restaurant of the locally-owned and recently rebuilt Tafua beach fales.

Two years after the Sichuan earthquake: still working "black and white, five plus two" on disaster recovery

Submitted by Eleanor Dougoud on Wed, 2010-05-12 14:48
Remembering May 12, 2008 - a boy in Weima Town looks at the Town’s rebuilding plans with the construction going on around.

Today is the second anniversary of the Sichuan - Wenchuan disaster, two years since the 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit six provinces in China, killing more than 68,000 people and affecting an area roughly equating to 60% of Texas, or 80% of France. It is these rough calculations that have stuck in my mind for the last two years, since the Bank started working with the government of China on an emergency recovery loan. The immensity of the task being undertaken in reconstructing the 4 million homes destroyed, restarting livelihoods and restoring hope for the 15 million people affected is very difficult to comprehend. 

The resilience of the people affected is incredible, as is the continued dedication and drive of those working in the reconstruction and recovery program in the affected area. The team in Sichuan on the government side coined a term during a Bank mission: “black and white, five plus two” when they talked of how they were still working day and night, weekdays and weekends. Every mission since we remember it and joke about it, but it has a sincere and valid reality behind it.

Haiti earthquake: Out of great disasters comes great opportunity

Submitted by Abhas Jha on Mon, 2010-01-18 01:33
A collapsed building in Port-au-Prince. Photo by IFRC/Eric Quintero under a Creative Commons license.

The scale and magnitude of the earthquake in Haiti has shocked, saddened and horrified us all. But there is a silver lining to this great tragedy. Looking back in history, great natural disasters are often a catalyst for huge, positive change.

The great fire of London in 1666 led to a massive rebuilding effort, better building regulations and, in the end, a safer, cleaner city that maintained the medieval street plan that is still visible, to some extent, today. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting discussion of how the impact of the 1755 earthquake in Lisbon led to the creation of a new metropolis with earthquake-proof buildings, wide thoroughfares and a sewer system. The massive reconstruction financing required after the great fire of Copenhagen of 1795 led to the creation, in 1797, of Kreditkassen for Husejere i Kjøbenhavn (The Credit Association of Copenhagen homeowners), the precursor of modern mortgage markets.

Five years after the tsunami: recollections from my work on ground zero in Aceh, Indonesia

Submitted by Geumala Yatim on Fri, 2009-12-25 15:53
Explaining the housing program admistered by the Multi-Donor Fund to a group of residents.

(Geumala Yatim, who started working with communities in Aceh soon after the 2004 tsunami hit, is writing a book about her experiences there. This is adapted from one of its chapters).

At the time, I was at my friend Oscar’s house, getting ready to attend a Christmas party at another friend’s house. Oscar asked me to turn the TV on to CNN or BBC. “I heard there’s a big natural disaster somewhere on the tip of Sumatra. Aceh probably. Not sure,” he said. Up until we left the house, both channels were relaying non-stop reports on natural disasters in Thailand and Sri Lanka. No reports on what was happening on the tip of Sumatra thus far.

Aceh five years after the tsunami: where have all the customers gone?

Submitted by Harry Masyrafah on Tue, 2009-12-22 18:13

It surprised me a little bit when I was driving my family along the west coast of Aceh a couple of weeks ago. Not too far from Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh’s province, a 15 meters wide- fresh-paved asphalt road built by the US absolutely has framed Aceh into another window of opportunity. This strategic road will connect Banda Aceh and some other districts in the west coast, which was washed away by the tsunami. Before the disaster, it was narrow and poorly maintained. This reminded me of the slogan that Mr. Clinton, former US president and also the UN special envoy for the tsunami recovery often advocated: to build back better!

The dramatic news that tv stations kept airing for weeks after Christmas five years ago prompted an unprecedented response from across the world. Governments, individuals, and aid agencies pledged at least $7billion for Indonesia, of which an astonishing $6,5 billion was allocated. According to BKRA (Reconstruction Continuation Agency for Aceh) by mid 2009, more than 140,00 houses, 3,700 km of road, 36 airports and seaports, 1,600 schools and more than 900 government buildings had been built, and 70,000 hectares of farmland were restored by various agencies, apart from the intangible assets gained from many technical assistance and capacity building programs.
 

Recovering from storms Ketsana and Parma in the Philippines: the importance of people's voices in recovery and reconstruction

Submitted by Dave Llorito on Mon, 2009-12-14 18:15
A recently released Post-Disaster Needs Assessment tells of big numbers: total damage and losses following typhoons Ketsana and Parma was US$4.3 billion.  (Photo by Nonilon Reyes)

My mind raced back to the remote town of Balangiga in Eastern Samar, as the Philippines government, development partners and the private sector were discussing the findings of the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) in a recent dialogue in Makati City.

The PDNA—prepared by a team of local and international experts from the government agencies, private sector, civil society and development partners—tells about big numbers: total damage and losses following two typhoons, Ketsana and Parma, was US$4.3 billion. And resources needed for the Philippines to pick up the pieces and eventually get back on its feet is equally big—more than US$4.4 billion (pdf). There were discussions about how the PDNA could serve as a framework for recovery and reconstruction, but my mind kept telling me that one of the key principles to effectively address floods and disasters in Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon—on top of the required resources, processes, and governance reforms—lies in the experiences of residents of that remote town in the Visayas Islands.