The role of post-disaster public policy responses in housing recovery of tenants

This paper examines the post-earthquake public policy responses for housing recovery of tenants in cities of Bhuj in India and Bam in Iran that were affected by earthquakes in 2001 and 2003 respectively. The analysis of these two public policy responses is followed by an investigation of their implications for housing recovery of tenant households. It is argued that both recovery programmes favoured homeowners in their policy provisions while engaging in a trial and error policy development for housing recovery of non-landowners. The implications of the policies were a lack of affordable rental units in these cities and late recovery and displacement of tenants. In particular public policy responses for housing recovery in these two cities failed to adequately address the housing needs of lower-income tenants.