Palu Housing Reconstruction Process: Reviewing and Learning after the 2018 Earthquake

Abstract

The strong earthquake that hit the Province of Central Sulawesi on 28 September 2018 (M7.4), followed by tsunami and liquefaction has caused many casualties, injuries as well as damages in the housing sector. In the rehabilitation and reconstruction (R&R) program, the Government policy was to provide the affected community with aid to rebuild their houses (for houses outside the red zone), the Government also will build new settlements for relocation (for houses inside the red zone), which both are expected to be more earthquake-resistant. In order to understand what happens in the field related to various issues, an investigation to study the whole processes and to document the lessons learnt from the reconstruction process is conducted in Central Sulawesi Province. One of the highlights of this study is the impact of the three types of disasters that occurred in Palu Municipality (earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction) on the housing reconstruction process after the disaster occurred. The primary field survey and Focus Group Discussion were conducted through interviews with various parties in the earthquake-affected areas to reveal the findings of problems and obstacles in the field during its two years of implementation, from 2018 to 2020. This study focuses on reviewing and learning from the post-disaster housing sector reconstruction process. The result of this study is expected to provide future lessons for the post-disaster housing reconstruction process in Indonesia and other countries.