Evaluating china’s national post-disaster plans: The 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake’s recovery and reconstruction planning

The 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake caused tremendous casualties and property losses as well as a substantial need for rebuilding the affected localities in order to address housing and urban development issues for the future. China’s central government applied a national planning approach in both the emergency response and the disaster recovery phases that aims at facilitating the flow of technological assistance and financial aid from the whole country to the earthquake-stricken areas. This study reviews disaster management practices in China with an interdisciplinary analysis to see how disaster planning and management can be fit into the top-down government administration system. The Overall Plan for Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction and the City/Town System Plan for Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Recovery and Reconstruction, two overarching plans initiated by the central government, are evaluated by reviewing the underlying facts, goals, and actions. The plans’ merits are to be found in their incorporating hazard mitigation into disaster recovery plans and taking into account different strategies of relocation and reconstruction. The article also identifies the gap between making plans and meeting local needs, the insufficiency of public engagement in plan-making, and the negative planning impacts of competition for resources and funds. Suggestions for disaster planning and policy-making are provided with a focus on building a local disaster management system in China.