When a Disaster Risk Reduction Policy Fails in the Implementation Stage: Eroding Community Resilience and Traditional Architecture in Iranian Villages

Abstract

Risk Reduction policies should be framed in the light of specific building and social capital features, contributing to both the built environment and community resilience. However, sometimes also the most appropriated policy strategies are not effective on the ground, producing unattended consequences and resulting in people dissatisfaction and community resilience losses. This chapter highlights the fallacies of the Iranian Rural Housing Retrofitting Special Plan (RHSP) implementation when it comes to retrofitting rural houses in line with the spatial and cultural local contexts. Through a review of the RHSP, which is the main national disaster risk reduction policy framework, and a fieldwork in the small village of Nater, we assessed the implementation of the policy results (the building of 41 new houses) and demonstrated that not only these new buildings, but also the existing local vernacular architecture was providing the built environment with safety and earthquake resistant performances, while enhancing social capital and community resilience. Results highlight that although the national policy framework does recognize local building architecture resilience attributes, its guiding principles were not applied during the implementation process, resulting in a cascade effect of social capital and vernacular architecture erosion. This chapter contributes to highlighting the importance of the decision making process during policy implementation processes in order to maximize and enhance local available resources, capacities and the embedded resilience of the places.