Post-disaster recovery planning and sustainable development — a lesson from the Wenchuan earthquake, China, 2008

In May 12, 2008, Wenchuan was hit by a Mw 7.9 earthquake, which affected 170,000 square miles areas and caused more than 88,000 deaths. The Chinese government responded immediately after the earthquake. Under the hierarchical top-down political structure, central government established a special intergovernmental partnership system to formulate and implement the post-recovery planning and reconstruction in a short time. However, disaster recovery is a complex process which involves not only physical reconstruction, but also social reorganization, economic recovery, and cultural heritage. Due to the vulnerable and complex situation of the disaster-affected areas, it is very important for them to achieve long-term recovery and ultimately, sustainable development. Under this circumstance, can the Chinese government reach the goal which aims at gaining the transition “from blood transfusion to blood reconstitution” during the fast-speed Wenchuan post-disaster reconstruction process? This thesis focuses on the evaluation of the Wenchuan post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction planning by applying the criteria of sustainable development and exploring its underlying issues given the large context of the changing political, historical and economic environment of China. The planning is primarily evaluated from three aspects, including planning content, planning formulation process and planning implementation. 13 reconstruction plans of towns in Wenchuan County are closely examined both qualitatively and quantitatively. Based on the evaluation results, the conclusion discusses some implications of a proper post-disaster planning mode to achieve sustainable development.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.U.P.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Urban Planning

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Xin, Dong

Contributors dc:contributor

• Olshansky, Robert B.

• post-disaster
• sustainable
• reconstruction
• planning
• Wenchuan
• China

Statement dc:rights

• © 2011 by Xin Dong. All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/30939

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/30939