Out of Sync: World Bank Funding for Housing Recovery, Postdisaster Planning, and Participation

Abstract

The World Bank is increasingly at the forefront of housing reconstruction in countries affected by disasters. Yet, the literature on the World Bank’s postdisaster housing projects is rather thin. This paper examines the postdisaster housing reconstruction processes of two disaster projects financed by the World Bank in India and Turkey following the 2001 Gujarat and 1999 Marmara earthquakes. Based on interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and a review of secondary sources, the authors focus on the Bank-related factors that affected the housing recovery processes and outcomes. While acknowledging the role of the recipient governments of India and Turkey in housing recovery, the authors argue that the housing reconstruction components of both projects reflected a sense of urgency about completion in part because of the Bank’s emergency recovery loan mechanism and measures of project success. In addition, the projects were not flexible enough to allow for addressing the challenges faced during the implementation process—specifically, the challenges of synchronizing housing reconstruction with planning, land readjustment, and participation—in part because of the Bank’s strict institutions and organizational routines and its organizational culture.