Searching for emergency shelters in rural China: A systematic review of policies and literature

Emergency shelters are commonly utilized as a means of disaster adaptation. Rural China is vulnerable to disasters. While a considerable amount of practical and theoretical work has been conducted regarding urban emergency shelters in China, a comprehensive assessment of the challenges faced by rural communities is lacking. Our systematic review concerning rural emergency shelters (RESs) identified 45 policies and 56 studies. We answered four main questions: 1) What are the top-level approaches for RESs in national policy? 2) How to plan and design RESs? 3) What is the status of RES implementation? 4) How can stakeholders engage in the RES process? To enhance rural resilience, the current limitations were summarized: neglect of rural special needs; imitation of urban planning and design; ambiguity in the implementation of RESs; and one-sided process of stakeholder engagement. This review can help to lay the groundwork for practices to better promote sustainable rural development.