In recent years, recovery efforts following major disasters, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, have highlighted the need to understand better what factors lead to the long-term recovery of communities. Previous studies have found wide variation in outcomes of reconstruction programs, and, although there have been increasing numbers of individual and small case studies of disaster recovery in recent years, there have been few broad comparative studies that explain long-term recovery outcomes. In this paper, we specifically focus on how strategic interventions following the tsunami (including community participation, construction oversight, recovery agency presence and embeddedness in the community, and recovery funds) affected the success of housing recovery programs. To answer the question, "What actions can aid community recovery following a disaster?", we employed fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to determine what recovery strategies led to successful post-tsunami housing recovery in communities of Tamil Nadu, India. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and documentation on recovery outcomes and suspected conditions that affected recovery in the 15 villages. Based on the analysis, the recovery agency's embeddedness in communities, community participation during the recovery process, and agency oversight during reconstruction are necessary for successful housing reconstruction
Jordan, E. and Javernick-Will, A. (2014). “Success and Failures of the Post-Tsunami Housing Reconstruction Program in Tamil Nadu, India.” Construction Research Congress, Atlanta, GA. doi: 10.1061/9780784413517.123