Abstract
Cities are the most resilient humans’ artefact, and this is due to their socio-economic capacities to persist shock and stresses. However, sometimes cities do persist but at the cost of losing key functions and modifying their development trajectories. One of the challenges of disaster resilience is indeed to merge built environment reconstruction and socio-economic (re)development. This chapter aims to explore how to do that in the difficult circumstances of the territories which are losing populations, with ageing societies and economic stagnation. In order to do that, different municipalities of the Abruzzo region are taken as study cases. In 2009 the region was shocked by a severe earthquake, destroying L’Aquila city and surrounding 56 minor centres (44 of these been labelled from the Italian Government as “inner areas”, definition that indicates towns that don’t have a direct access to essential services such as secondary education or emergency care hospitals). The study analyses 18 post-earthquake reconstruction plans in the light of the legislative framework and the status quo 6 years after the disaster. Results emphasise a set of paradoxes and challenges in the application of the normative framework, which aims at the broadest, integrated, long-term socio-economic recovery, but at the same time limiting the space for innovation and actions beyond the built environment reconstruction. However, the out-of-ordinary opportunity offered from the reconstruction funds hides the still potential for building new patterns of development, that need to be tackled by addressing the tensions highlighted in this chapter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
OECD defines Southern Italy as “a macro region whose economic under-performance has been since the Italian re-unification at centre stage in the political agenda and whose per capita GDP is still nowadays around 68% of the Italian one (that of Abruzzo is around 85%)” (OECD 2013, p.30).
- 2.
The seismic crater is constituted by municipalities affected by a MCS intensity equal to or higher than the VI degree, according to macro-seismic surveys carried out by the Department of Civil Protection with the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology (Decrees of the Designated Commissioner for Reconstruction no. 3 of 16th April 2009 and no. 11 of 17th July 2009).
- 3.
- 4.
Earlier Decree-Law no. 39 of 28th April 2009.
- 5.
The Commissioner for Reconstruction was the President of Abruzzo Region from 1st February 2010 (O.P.C.M. no. 3790/2009) to 31st August 2012 (Law no. 134/2012).
- 6.
On April 2014 data showed 23,000 people still assisted for their accommodation needs: 18,000 in L’Aquila and 5000 in the other municipalities. Data retrieved from: http://www.commissarioperlaricostruzione.it/content/download/1983/21073/file/Report%20popolazione%20post-sisma%2014_12.pdf; http://www.usra.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/SituazioneAlloggiativaAprile2014.pdf.
- 7.
The groups to whom the plans have been commissioned are: Area 4 to a consortium made from the University of Padua and National Council of Research, with the collaboration of Polytechnic University of Milan and Sapienza University of Rome for Area 4 (exception: the town of Carapelle Calvisio designated a group of professionals); University of Chieti-Pescara for Area 5 (exception: the town of Capestrano designated a group of professionals); Sapienza University of Rome for Area 9.
- 8.
It is believed that the collapse of the Medicea Tower of Santo Stefano di Sessanio was due to 20th century renovations on the tower’s observation platform: the original wooden deck was replaced by a structure made of reinforced concrete.
- 9.
To coordinate the improvement of safety measures and energy efficiency of building units with the restoration of listed buildings reinterpreting local building traditions has been a challenge for the reconstruction in the entire crater.
- 10.
See Law no. 77/2009, Art. 1.
- 11.
Caravaggi defines the homogeneous areas as “an apparatus capable of bringing out possible alliances and unavoidable contrasts” (Caravaggi 2013, p. 29).
References
Alesch, D. J., Arendt, L. A., & Holly, J. N. (2009). Managing for long-term community recovery in the aftermath of disaster. Public Entity Risk Institute.
Angrilli, M. (2012). Paesaggi della ricostruzione. In A. Clementi & M. Di Venosa (Eds.), Pianificare la ricostruzione: Sette esperienze dall’Abruzzo (pp. 100–109). Venezia: Marsilio.
Bazzurro, P., Alexander, D. E., Clemente, P., Comerio, M., De Sortis, A., Filippou, F., … Schotanus, M. (2009). The Mw 6.3 Abruzzo, Italy, Earthquake of April 6, 2009. Learning from Earthquakes, EERI Special Earthquake Report.
Bruneau, M., Chang, S. E., Eguchi, R. T., Lee, G. C., O’Rourke, T. D., Reinhorn, A. M., … Winterfeldt, D. v. (2003). A framework to quantitatively assess and enhance the seismic resilience of communities. Earthquake Spectra, 19(4), 733–752. doi:10.1193/1.1623497.
Calafati, A. G. (2012). “L’Aquila 2030”. Una strategia di sviluppo economico. Uno strumento per pensare un ausilio ai processi decisionali. Studio promosso dal Ministro per la Coesione Territoriale.
Caravaggi, L. (2013). Questa ricostruzione. In L. Caravaggi, O. Carpenzano, A. Fioritto, C. Imbroglini, & L. Sorrentino (Eds.), Ricostruzione e governo del rischio. Piani di ricostruzione post sisma dei Comuni di Lucoli, Ovindoli, Rocca di Cambio e Rocca di Mezzo (L’Aquila) (pp. 28–53). Rome: Quodlibet.
Caravaggi, L. (2014). Il senso di una ricostruzione montana. Resilienza-diversità-cambiamento. In L. Caravaggi (Ed.), La montagna resiliente: sicurezza, coesione e vitalità nella ricostruzione dei territori abruzzesi (pp. 19–35). Macerata: Quodlibet.
Chang, S. E. (2010). Urban disaster recovery: a measurement framework and its application to the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Disasters, 34(2), 303–327. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2009.01130.x.
Chelleri, L., Waters, J. J., Olazabal, M., & Minucci, G. (2015). Resilience trade-offs: Addressing multiple scales and temporal aspects of urban resilience. Environment and Urbanization, 27(1), 181–198. doi:10.1177/0956247814550780.
Cheng, S., Ganapati, E., & Ganapati, S. (2015). Measuring disaster recovery: Bouncing back or reaching the counterfactual state? Disasters, 39(3), 427–446. doi:10.1111/disa.12112.
Clementi, A. (2012). Innovazioni alla prova. In A. Clementi & M. Di Venosa (Eds.), Pianificare la ricostruzione: sette esperienze dall’Abruzzo (pp. 17–34). Venezia: Marsilio.
Commissario delegato per la ricostruzione Presidente della Regione Abruzzo—Struttura Tecnica di Missione. (2010). Linee di indirizzo strategico per la ripianificazione del territorio. Retrieved from http://www.commissarioperlaricostruzione.it/Informare/Normative-e-Documenti/Atti-e-documenti-della-Struttura-Tecnica-di-Missione-STM/Linee-di-indirizzo-strategico-per-la-ripianificazione-del-territorio.-Versione-del-20-luglio-2010.
Comune di L’Aquila. (2011). Il piano di ricostruzione dei centri storici di L’Aquila e frazioni. Linee di indirizzo strategico.
Conversione in legge, con modificazioni, del decreto-legge 22 giugno 2012, n. 83, recante Misure urgenti per la crescita del Paese, 134, 7 agosto 2012 C.F.R. (2012).
Decanini, L. D., Marotta, A., Mollaioli, F., & Pasca, M. (2013a). Ricostruire = utilizzare il catalogo sismico locale. In: L. Caravaggi, O. Carpenzano, A. Fioritto, C. Imbroglini, & L. Sorrentino (Eds.), Ricostruzione e governo del rischio. Piani di ricostruzione post sisma dei Comuni di Lucoli, Ovindoli, Rocca di Cambio e Rocca di Mezzo (L’Aquila) (pp. 183–187). Rome: Quodlibet.
Decanini, L. D., Mollaioli, F., Pasca, M., & Scalora, G. (2013b). Percorsi e spazi sicuri: dimensione territoriale e centro abitato. In: L. Caravaggi, O. Carpenzano, A. Fioritto, C. Imbroglini, & L. Sorrentino (Eds.), Ricostruzione e governo del rischio. Piani di ricostruzione post sisma dei Comuni di Lucoli, Ovindoli, Rocca di Cambio e Rocca di Mezzo (L’Aquila) (pp. 118–131). Rome: Quodlibet.
Di Venosa, M. (2012). Sette piani di ricostruzione. In A. Clementi & M. Di Venosa (Eds.), Pianificare la ricostruzione: sette esperienze dall’Abruzzo (pp. 35–49). Venezia: Marsilio.
Elmqvist, T. (2014). Urban Resilience Thinking. Solutions.
Fioritto, A. (2013). Il governo del rischio: la prevenzione come funzione ordinaria dell’amministrazione. In: L. Caravaggi, O. Carpenzano, A. Fioritto, C. Imbroglini, & L. Sorrentino (Eds.), Ricostruzione e governo del rischio. Piani di ricostruzione post sisma dei Comuni di Lucoli, Ovindoli, Rocca di Cambio e Rocca di Mezzo (L’Aquila) (pp. 56–66). Rome: Quodlibet.
Folke, C., Carpenter, S. R., Walker, B., Scheffer, M., Chapin, T., & Rockström, J. (2010). Resilience thinking: integrating resilience, adaptability and transformability. Ecology and Society, 15(4), 20.
Gotham, K., & Campanella, R. (2011). Coupled vulnerability and resilience: The dynamics of cross-scale interactions in post-Katrina New Orleans. Ecology and Society, 16(3). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-04292-160312.
Haigh, R., & Amaratunga, D. (2010). An integrative review of the built environment discipline’s role in the development of society’s resilience to disasters. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 1(1), 11–24. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17595901011026454.
Haigh, R., & Sutton, R. (2012). Strategies for the effective engagement of multi‐national construction enterprises in post‐disaster building and infrastructure projects. International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, 3(3), 270–282. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17595901211263657.
Imbroglini, C. (2013). Progetti di riqualificazione. Comune per comune. In: L. Caravaggi, O. Carpenzano, A. Fioritto, C. Imbroglini, & L. Sorrentino (Eds.), Ricostruzione e governo del rischio. Piani di ricostruzione post sisma dei Comuni di Lucoli, Ovindoli, Rocca di Cambio e Rocca di Mezzo (L’Aquila) (pp. 276–279). Rome: Quodlibet.
Imbroglini, C. (2014). Paesaggi nella ricostruzione abruzzese. In L. Caravaggi (Ed.), La montagna resiliente: sicurezza, coesione e vitalità nella ricostruzione dei territori abruzzesi (pp. 78–87). Macerata: Quodlibet.
Lengnick-Hall, C. A., & Beck, T. E. (2005). Adaptive Fit Versus Robust Transformation: How Organizations Respond to Environmental Change. Journal of Management, 31(5), 738–757. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279367.
Lettieri, E., Masella, C., & Radaelli, G. (2009). Disaster management: Findings from a systematic review. Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, 18(2), 117–136.
Longstaff, P. H. (2005). Security, resilience, and communication in unpredictable environments such as terrorism, natural disasters, and complex technology. Cambridge: Harvard University.
MacAskill, K., & Guthrie, P. (2014). Application of sustainability principles in post-disaster reconstruction. Paper presented at the Proceedings 30th Annual Association of Researchers in Construction Management Conference, ARCOM 2014.
Matyas, D., & Pelling, M. (2015). Positioning resilience for 2015: The role of resistance, incremental adjustment and transformation in disaster risk management policy. Disasters, 39(s1), s1–s18. doi:10.1111/disa.12107.
OECD (2013). Policy making after disasters: helping regions become resilient. The case of post-earthquake Abruzzo. OECD Publishing.
Oliver-Smith, A. (1991). Successes and failures in post-disaster resettlement. Disasters, 15(1), 12–23. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7717.1991.tb00423.x.
Olshansky, R., & Chang, S. (2009). Planning for disaster recovery: Emerging research needs and challenges. Progress in planning, 72(4), 200–209. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2009.09.001.
Pyles, L., & Harding, S. (2011). Discourses of post-Katrina reconstruction: a frame analysis. Community Development Journal. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsr023.
Rathfon, D., Davidson, R., Bevington, J., Vicini, A., & Hill, A. (2013). Quantitative assessment of post-disaster housing recovery: A case study of Punta Gorda, Florida, after Hurricane Charley. Disasters, 37(2), 333–355. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7717.2012.01305.x.
Rubin Claire, B. (2009). Long term recovery from disasters—The neglected component of emergency management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 6(1)
Smith, G., & Wenger, D. (2007). Sustainable disaster recovery: Operationalizing an existing agenda. Handbook of Disaster Research (pp. 234–257). New York: Springer.
Università degli Studi di Padova, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Politecnico di Milano, & Sapienza Università di Roma. (2012a). Proposte per lo sviluppo socio-economico (Area 4).
Università degli Studi di Padova, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Politecnico di Milano, & Sapienza Università di Roma. (2012b). Relazione generale del Piano di Ricostruzione (Area 4).
Yi, H., & Yang, J. (2014). Research trends of post disaster reconstruction: The past and the future. Habitat International, 42, 21–29. doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2013.10.005.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Di Giovanni, G., Chelleri, L. (2017). Sustainable Disaster Resilience? Tensions Between Socio-economic Recovery and Built Environment Post-disaster Reconstruction in Abruzzo (Italy). In: Deppisch, S. (eds) Urban Regions Now & Tomorrow. Studien zur Resilienzforschung. Springer, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-16759-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-16759-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-16758-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-16759-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)