Challenges and Opportunities for Pre-disaster Strategic Planning in Post-disaster Temporary Housing Provision. Evidence from Earthquakes in Central Italy (2016-2017)

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges and opportunities of pre-disaster strategic planning in supporting temporary housing provision, using as a case study the earthquakes occurred in Italian central Apennines in 2016 and 2017. The paper explores such challenges and opportunities in several municipalities along four affected regions. Primary data were retrieved from fieldwork conducted in March 2017 in some affected municipalities, supported by interviews to relevant organizations and stakeholders involved in emergency and reconstruction in the affected areas. Findings report that in the assessed municipalities delays occurred in temporary housing provision due to both technical and governance aspects, undermining the possibility to satisfy local needs in a timely way. Therefore, the paper sheds new light on the role of pre-disaster strategic planning in temporary housing provision. The paper discusses and supports the advances of international practices for pre-disaster strategic planning. It also calls for embracing mechanisms able to avoid delays and lock-ins embedded within the socio-political context-specific factors.