The destructive Wenchuan earthquake of magnitude 8.0 occurred at 2:28 pm local time on 12 May 2008, in the western Sichuan province of China. The reconstruction of public and private housing emerged as a key issue for the Government of China. This note discusses delivery mechanisms and financing...

The Wenchuan earthquake affected 20 cities, 158 counties, and 3,655 towns and villages. Geographic and demographic conditions varied significantly from small, rural villages to county-level cities, as did the magnitude of the physical damages. The reconstruction strategy and plan, inclusive of...

In the aftermath of major humanitarian crises, whether caused by natural disasters or conflicts, the international community is increasingly pledging larger amounts of aid to help rebuild devastated regions. At the same time, recipient agencies are called upon to increase the level of...

This paper addresses key challenges that have been experienced in several countries during the post-disaster recovery and reconstruction process, in particular relating to the organization and management of the reconstruction planning, design, and implementation process

This note provides lessons learned and recommendations for artificial dams and barrier lakes following an earthquake. In the case of artificial dams, emphasis has been placed on small, rural dams rather than on larger, well-engineered dams because smaller dams represent a higher hazard in China....

This knowledge note provides an overview of the post-disaster assessment process, extracting lessons learned in the East Asia Pacific Region (EAP) and presenting best practices from recent assessments. The note explains the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) methodology, and outlines: (i) the...

Recovery and reconstruction 12 May 2008 Mw 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake will involve a large and complex series of programs, for which recent earthquake disasters provide useful lessons, key of which are: (i) the response or stabilization phase will probably be significantly reduced during 20-25 May,...