Post-tsunami habitat reconstruction in Aceh

Publisher: KARTHALA – URD
Location: Indonesia
2010

Following the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami, hundreds of NGOs and international organizations arrived in Aceh, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

A hundred of these organizations initiated a long-term housing reconstruction process to rehouse the 500,000 Acehnese made homeless by the tsunami. In the four years that followed, 140,300 houses were reconstructed thanks to some $7.8 billion collected by the international community and private donors. It was the first time post-disaster housing reconstruction had ever been such an important part of humanitarian programs.

Written after a 6-month field survey, this publication analyzes this vast reconstruction program and, in particular, its impact on the population and the territory of Aceh. It examines the ownership status and durability of rebuilt houses, focusing on architectural typologies, design approaches, construction methods and their incremental improvement

The study also addresses urban planning, land management and economic assistance issues, looking at the transition between the emergency phase and development programs. Focus is on the post-conflict environment in which the reconstruction work took place, namely following the peace agreement signed in 2005 that ended a thirty year guerrilla war between the GAM separatists and the national government.

The book was published in 2010 by KARTHALA – Groupe URD