Enabling Participatory Planning After Disasters: A Case Study of the World Bank's Housing Reconstruction in Turkey

Problem: Literature emphasizes that the public should participate in the planning of postdisaster recovery, but several challenges impede such participation. Purpose: This article examines what hindered public participation in a particular housing reconstruction project and suggests how planners can better enable public participation in planning after disasters. Methods: The article is based on a case study of a housing reconstruction project sponsored by the World Bank in the Sirinkoy neighborhood of the city of Golcuk in northwestern Turkey after the August 17, 1999, earthquake. In addition to reviewing secondary sources, our primary data collection methods for the case study included onsite participant observation and conducting in-depth semistructured interviews and a focus group. Results and conclusions: The case demonstrates that the World Bank defined the public in public participation narrowly, only seeking participation from project beneficiaries and excluding such relevant local stakeholders as the local government and community-based organizations. This occurred because the World Bank took a project-based approach and had limited knowledge of local capacities. Even the feedback received from project beneficiaries was not incorporated into the housing plans due to World Bank's sense of urgency, concern for cost effectiveness, and inflexible terms and conditions of the loan. Takeaway for practice: Planners and policymakers should broaden the definition of public in public participation in postdisaster housing projects. Rather than focusing narrowly on project beneficiaries, they should include other stakeholders in the broader urban development process. They should also put people before plans in postdisaster housing reconstruction, giving disaster victims a real chance to have a say in planning processes and outcomes. Research support: This research was supported in part by the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.