Real Risk

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EVELOPING COUNTRIES SUCH

as Turkey face a variety of

natural risks, leading to disasters which cause immense

loss of life and property. The Marmara earthquake of 1999

exemplifies the immense scale of many such disasters, empha-

sizing the critical importance of effective planning and

programming for post-disaster reconstruction, including not only

the provision of shelter for victims, but also the rehabilitation of

physiological, social and economic infrastructures.

One crucial challenge in post-disaster reconstruction is ensur-

ing the sustainability of interventions – in many cases,

reconstruction has compounded the vulnerability of settlements.

Following the Marmara earthquake, steel-stake construction for

apartments and reliance on modern technology for the construc-

tion of urban housing has failed to reduce vulnerability to future

earthquakes, and may have increased the physical, social and

economic vulnerability of local communities.

Reducing vulnerability from a physical and psychological

perspective

The principal causes of increasing pre- and post-disaster vulner-

ability are related to existing psychological, social, economic and

political conditions as well as post-disaster reconstruction poli-

cies. Often, existing development processes for rural and urban

settlements contribute to social and economic poverty, a market

economy and an undeveloped education system. Rural and urban

areas of Turkey and other developing countries present major

challenges in seeking to reduce vulnerability through develop-

ment of local knowledge and capacity. These include:

• Loss of material and land resources (from rural communities)

• Loss of traditional skills

• An acquired culture of external interventions

• Increasing social and economic poverty and inequity

• Weakening municipalities and city administrations.

Vulnerability is a set of negative conditions within a community,

which may be caused by inherent weaknesses or external threats.

Knowledge and capacity result from positive conditions, repre-

senting the internal strengths and external opportunities of a

community. However, vulnerability to disasters is both the cause

and effect of decreasing knowledge and capacity in local admin-

istrations, and of conditions of poverty.

Disaster-related damage is a complex phenomenon that might

relate to one or multiple risks, affecting the whole society or

sections within it. A significant aspect of the interlinkage between

the vulnerability and capacities of afflicted societies is in the

dynamic nature of the relationship. The negative effects of a disas-

ter do not remain the same over time, especially after a natural risk

such as an earthquake or hurricane.

On one hand, vulnerabilities can form the context for a disas-

ter; on the other, reactions such as relief and rehabilitation

processes may help to eradicate or reduce certain kinds of risk

while compounding others. Certain aspects of vulnerability

precede a disaster, creating a setting for it and contributing to its

nature and severity. These can be reinforced and changed by post-

disaster response decisions and by the overall social, economic,

political and institutional context. Vulnerability to natural disas-

ters can therefore be understood in terms of ‘products’ and

‘processes,’ existing before as well as after a disaster, with certain

aspects carried forward because the underlying causes remain.

Because societies are always in transition, local knowledge and

capacity are accumulative, and develop continuously in response

to various situations. Internal perceptions dictate the learning

processes and communication mechanisms which develop over

Rethinking post-disaster reconstruction:

rural and urban areas of Turkey

Muzaffer Baca, Vice President, International Blue Crescent Humanitarian Relief Organization

Ömer Faruk Görçün, Instructor, Anadolu Bil Professional School of Higher Education

International Blue Crescent

Vulnerability is a product of immediate and long-term disaster responses

Photo: Muzaffer Baca, International Blue Crescent