Abstract
This chapter explores how the earthquake allowed other ideas to take root in Nepal and become reality. The earthquake reinvigorated central government–level interest in implementing the National Building Code. The earthquake also created the momentum for the national constitution to be promulgated after years of discussion. Based on my experience of the earthquake and the aftermath of the constitution, I propose that implementation of urban planning and earthquake-resistant construction as well as the political implications of the constitution and the ensuing economic blockade were as important as the earthquake for large parts of the country.
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Notes
- 1.
Durham Geography Postgraduates, ‘Nepal Earthquake by Hanna Ruszczyk’, 28 April 2015. http://community.dur.ac.uk/geopad/2015/04.
- 2.
Japan had a devastating earthquake in 1923 from which the Nepal and Bihar State, India, governments were learning best practices over a decade later.
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Ruszczyk, H.A. (2018). The Earthquake and Ideas Lying Around. In: Bracken, L., A. Ruszczyk, H., Robinson, T. (eds) Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65211-5_8
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