What Can We Learn from Disaster Recovery Projects? Comparative Recovery Policies in the Wenchuan and Bam Earthquakes

Comparing socio-natural disaster recovery projects conducted in different countries may provide helpful lessons for decision-makers and improve disaster response capability. This study presents the most significant lessons from recovery projects following the Bam earthquake in Iran in ۲۰۰۳ and the Wenchuan earthquake in China in ۲۰۰۸. Cross-comparison of the various recovery stages based on the continual life-cycle of these projects has holistically compared the cases. The author has proposed suggestions on major topics besides strategic analysis for disaster management in Iran and China. The results of this study can be considered in disaster policy-making. Future researchers may implement this study’s suggestions and evaluate the results.

Keywords:

disaster recovery , disaster risk reduction , successful recovery , Bam earthquake , Wenchuan earthquake , comparative study , SWOT analysis.