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Despite an improving regulatory framework and policies governing compensation and resettlement, the majority of the millions displaced worldwide each year by hydropower dam construction continue to experience marginalisation and impoverishment, suggesting that external financial support must be supplemented by strengthened community-based resilience. In order to understand more about the innate resources of displaced rural communities, we applied a community resilience approach to two resettled Co-tu ethnic minority villages in an upland area in central Vietnam to identify their community capitals and their application in improving livelihoods and living conditions. We found that weak human and financial capital constrained the ability of the resettled residents to adopt new livelihoods or migrate to seek employment. Reduced forest and river access also problematised responses to a lack of agricultural land. However, traditionally strong village affinity and social networks were retained. In addition, indigenous skills such as housing construction, honed by a highly mobile traditional lifestyle, allowed residents to construct culturally significant structures like community houses and modify or augment received housing stock. These elements of social and cultural capital eased the process of post-resettlement adaptation. We conclude that governments should reassess current resettlement policies that prioritise financial compensation and should incorporate awareness of the adaptive resilience and limitations fostered by indigenous knowledge and practices in resettlement action plans.

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Purpose This study focuses on residents’ perceptions of the permanent houses built by various implementing agencies on the Calaanan site as part of post-Typhoon Washi resettlement in the city of Cagayan de Oro. This research aims to make a comparative analysis of the communities’ pre- and post-disaster situation, their satisfaction with the housing provided and the factors influencing housing modification. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyzes the data obtained from a questionnaire survey of residents, interviews with stakeholders involved in resettlement, observation survey and graphic documentation between July and August 2014. Findings The analysis of residents’ perspectives revealed that their building of extensions to houses was a response to a lack of consideration of their needs and of local environmental and cultural patterns in the planning and construction of permanent housing. Originality/value The findings are used to develop points to consider to gain a better understanding of residents’ adaptation to their environment. These points may be useful in improving future resettlement projects in a country permanently exposed to disasters.

This study explores the reasons for, and patterns of, housing modifications in Mahogany Village at the Calaanan site, where permanent houses were built as part of a program to resettle communities affected by the severe tropical storm Washi that hit Cagayan de Oro City in December 2011. The basic housing units provided were not intended to be modified and the possibilities for adaptations were limited. However, this research found that residents were willing to invest in the construction of complementary spaces, even though it was considered a violation of their occupancy agreement. The construction of modifications was driven by the low performance of the houses provided, while the need to modify them came about because householders' needs, activities, and goals were not properly satisfied. In this study, the identification of the patterns of modification is augmented by an analysis of the reasons behind these modifications, incorporating consideration of demographic, economic, sociocultural, local environment, and climatic conditions. The study's findings reveal that the local characteristics of the resettled communities and their physical context were not taken into account during the planning stage of the resettlement.