2:15 PM - 2:45 PM
[O06-02] Problems caused by and positive lessons to be inherited from the reconstruction of the Great East Japan Earthquake
★Invited Papers
Keywords:reconstruction of earthquake disaster, creative reconstruction, unfair selection and division in disaster victims, human reconstruction, disaster case management
1 The current state of reconstruction in Miyagi prefecture
In March 2020, Miyagi Prefecture released the results of a review of the prefecture's earthquake recovery plan. It provides a glimpse into the current state of disaster recovery in Miyagi Prefecture.
The verification is based on the evaluation of the progress rate of 24 items in 7 fields included in the earthquake recovery plan, and those are categorized in the following 4 levels; A: certainty of achievement, B: achievement of 80% or more, C: achievement of less than 80%, and N: unmeasurable.
The following are the main points that can be read from the report.
(1) The selection of verification indicators is arbitrary, and there are no indicators that allow us to correctly grasp the progress in rebuilding the lives of disaster victims.
(2) Highly evaluated items are easily to control for local governments and biased to construction projects.
(3) Difficult to achieve are those that are beyond the control of local governments, in which private businesses and disaster victims are involved.
(4) Delaying in rebuilding livelihoods is obvious.
(5) The recovery plan in agricultural production that intends to introduce large-scale and entrepreneurial management has not been successful.
(6) Employment of disaster victims cannot be verified.
(7) Delays in the construction of seawalls, especially in the improvement of river levees for tsunami countermeasures are serious, whose main causes are skyrocketing construction costs caused by massive construction projects themselves.
2 Problem of victims living in poorly repaired houses and difficulties in community formation
685 households in Ishinomaki City were officially identified that they had been living in poorly repaired houses. Furthermore, based on the number of households with reduced property tax, not repaired houses may exceed 10,000 in Sendai City.
In addition, only less than one-third of households living in former villages moved in small-scale housing complexes constructed in remote peninsular areas, making community formation impossible and marginalization inevitable. The residents of public disaster housing are aging and becoming increasingly impoverished, and the formation and maintenance of a community is becoming a heavy burden on the leaders of neighborhood associations.
3 Characteristics of the recovery process in Miyagi Prefecture
The reconstruction process in Miyagi Prefecture can be characterized in the following three points. First, the rebuilding of the lives of the victims was neglected and massive civil engineering development was carried out to take advantage of the disaster. Secondly, the destruction of communities and self-governance proceeded, and thirdly, neoliberal structural reforms under the name of "creative reconstruction" were enforced, leaving "human reconstruction" behind and causing the selection and division of the victims in the project process.
4 What the Great Earthquake Left Behind
(1) What should be inherited
The following is a list of possible candidates. (1) Development of disaster case management, (2) Group subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises, (3) Mandatory maintenance of registers of disaster victims and those who need support for evacuation, (4) Expansion of support for rebuilding the lives of disaster victims to medium scale collapses, (5) Lifting of the ban on moving into temporary housing during emergency repairs, (6) Use of existing rental houses as temporary housing and provision of wooden temporary housing, (7) Establishment of a comprehensive subsidy for supporting disaster victims.
(2) Possible negative legacy of the earthquake reconstruction
i. Arbitrary use of inundation simulations.
ii. Promotion of huge land readjustment with special exceptions and special zones for reconstruction.
iii. Relaxation of requirements for disaster prevention group relocation projects.
In March 2020, Miyagi Prefecture released the results of a review of the prefecture's earthquake recovery plan. It provides a glimpse into the current state of disaster recovery in Miyagi Prefecture.
The verification is based on the evaluation of the progress rate of 24 items in 7 fields included in the earthquake recovery plan, and those are categorized in the following 4 levels; A: certainty of achievement, B: achievement of 80% or more, C: achievement of less than 80%, and N: unmeasurable.
The following are the main points that can be read from the report.
(1) The selection of verification indicators is arbitrary, and there are no indicators that allow us to correctly grasp the progress in rebuilding the lives of disaster victims.
(2) Highly evaluated items are easily to control for local governments and biased to construction projects.
(3) Difficult to achieve are those that are beyond the control of local governments, in which private businesses and disaster victims are involved.
(4) Delaying in rebuilding livelihoods is obvious.
(5) The recovery plan in agricultural production that intends to introduce large-scale and entrepreneurial management has not been successful.
(6) Employment of disaster victims cannot be verified.
(7) Delays in the construction of seawalls, especially in the improvement of river levees for tsunami countermeasures are serious, whose main causes are skyrocketing construction costs caused by massive construction projects themselves.
2 Problem of victims living in poorly repaired houses and difficulties in community formation
685 households in Ishinomaki City were officially identified that they had been living in poorly repaired houses. Furthermore, based on the number of households with reduced property tax, not repaired houses may exceed 10,000 in Sendai City.
In addition, only less than one-third of households living in former villages moved in small-scale housing complexes constructed in remote peninsular areas, making community formation impossible and marginalization inevitable. The residents of public disaster housing are aging and becoming increasingly impoverished, and the formation and maintenance of a community is becoming a heavy burden on the leaders of neighborhood associations.
3 Characteristics of the recovery process in Miyagi Prefecture
The reconstruction process in Miyagi Prefecture can be characterized in the following three points. First, the rebuilding of the lives of the victims was neglected and massive civil engineering development was carried out to take advantage of the disaster. Secondly, the destruction of communities and self-governance proceeded, and thirdly, neoliberal structural reforms under the name of "creative reconstruction" were enforced, leaving "human reconstruction" behind and causing the selection and division of the victims in the project process.
4 What the Great Earthquake Left Behind
(1) What should be inherited
The following is a list of possible candidates. (1) Development of disaster case management, (2) Group subsidies for small and medium-sized enterprises, (3) Mandatory maintenance of registers of disaster victims and those who need support for evacuation, (4) Expansion of support for rebuilding the lives of disaster victims to medium scale collapses, (5) Lifting of the ban on moving into temporary housing during emergency repairs, (6) Use of existing rental houses as temporary housing and provision of wooden temporary housing, (7) Establishment of a comprehensive subsidy for supporting disaster victims.
(2) Possible negative legacy of the earthquake reconstruction
i. Arbitrary use of inundation simulations.
ii. Promotion of huge land readjustment with special exceptions and special zones for reconstruction.
iii. Relaxation of requirements for disaster prevention group relocation projects.