Living-transforming disaster relief shelter : a conceptual approach for sustainable post-disaster housing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of post-disasterhousing reconstruction projects, propose the conceptual Living-transforming disasterrelief shelter (LTFDR-shelter) approach where temporary shelter is incrementallytransformed into a more permanent dwelling by using living technologies, andinvestigate its applicability to provide sustainable post-disaster housing followingnatural-hazard-induced disasters. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire survey with 120 householdrecipients of three Sri Lankan post-disaster housing projects was employed to explorehow the post-disaster housing projects have performed against the occupants'expectations. Furthermore, the new proposed LTFDR-shelter conceptual approach'sapplicability to address the existing issues found in the study was investigated. Findings – The paper evaluates and identifies the physical and technical, and socioeconomic performance issues of post-disaster housing and discusses the applicabilityof the proposed LTFDR-shelter conceptual approach as an efficient tool to adequatelyimprove the identified factors integrating three phases of relief, rehabilitation, andreconstruction employing living technology. Research limitations/implications – Although the study's scope was limited to theoccupant view of the performance of post-disaster housing in Sri Lanka, the findingsand conceptual LTFDR-shelter approach could be of particular relevance to otherdeveloping countries affected by similar disasters. Further research is recommendedto investigate and develop this concept in depth. Originality/value – This study lays the conceptual foundation for a new theoreticalapproach in post-disaster housing, which encourages more interdisciplinarycollaborations and empirical investigations that potentially enhance post-disasterhousing performance and facilitates the application of living technology in the builtenvironment