Stakeholders and Their Significance in Post Natural Disaster Reconstruction Projects: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Significant increase in number of natural disasters during past decades has triggered huge investments in reconstruction projects. Typical post-natural disaster reconstruction (PDR) projects are different from routine construction projects due to certain additional challenges. Understanding the wide range of individuals and groups that have direct or indirect stakes, interests and expectations from a PDR project is vital for its success. However, research on PDR with special emphasis on stakeholders and their significance in success and sustainability of the projects is limited. This paper provides a systematic literature review (SLR) to amalgamate and synthesise research in this area. It focuses on the identification of the stakeholders and significance of their engagement in PDR activities for a more sustainable and resilient built environment. Research papers published in peer reviewed academic journals from 2000 to 2014 were identified through three major research databases, using T/A/K search options. The selected research papers were reviewed and critically analysed to identify the stakeholders and mechanism of their identification. This research revealed that contemporary research is unable to identify a commonly agreeable scientific method for identification of stakeholders and their interests. This research has outlined an exhaustive list of stakeholders that have been identified by the researchers. Based upon systematic review, this research has also provided background information, recent trends and a future direction for research in the specific field of stakeholder engagement in PDR projects