Retracing Reconstruction. Establishing an analytical method for the comprehension and systematisation of urban metamorphosis following extreme events

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantitative, systematic method for analyzing and classifying urban reconstruction efforts after extreme events, using data analysis to compare cases consistently.

Contribution

It develops a four-phase scientific method for classifying post-disaster urban reconstructions based on data, applicable to European post-WWII cases.

Findings

Method is effective and replicable

Revised qualitative classifications of cases

Enhanced understanding of urban metamorphosis

Abstract

The problem of identifying models of post-disaster reconstruction is an issue that has been dealt with in depth in a number of works, mostly dedicated to individual cases or to the comparison of models. There are also a number of works that have attempted a systematisation on an historiographic basis. To date, however, there is no overall work aimed at constructing a quantitative method for evaluating and comparing reconstruction experiences. This article proposes to establish a scientific method for the systematic classification of post-disaster reconstructions, based on data analysis. The method consists of four phases: the redrawing of cases with a precise replicable technique; the choice of indicators; the measurement of urban development; the classification of cases. The method is applied to cases that are comparable with each other in terms of type of event and period: we have chosen post-World War II reconstructions in Europe given the larger availability of documentation. The paper leads both to the consolidation of the model as effective and replicable and to the construction of the application, which revises the qualitative classification of most of the addressed cases.