An Inquiry into Success Factors for Post-disaster Housing Reconstruction Projects: A Case of Kerala, South India

Abstract

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami triggered significant destruction to housing and related infrastructures across various coastal districts of south India. Research shows that tsunami reconstruction projects in Kerala experienced different degrees of success and failure. On this background, this study explored factors that contributed to the successful implementation of tsunami housing projects in Kerala by (1) consolidating various critical success factors (CSFs) for post-disaster reconstruction (PDR) projects under “project management success traits” through content analysis of existing literature; (2) deriving a conceptual model that envisages project success in PDR contexts; and (3) assessing the impacts of those success traits on tsunami housing projects using confirmatory factor analysis. Necessary data were gathered through a survey of various stakeholders involved in tsunami reconstruction projects in Kerala using structured questionnaires. The research revealed that PDR project success is attributed to critical dimensions of project management such as institutional mechanisms, reconstruction strategies, project implementation, and stakeholder management. A conceptual model with the interplay of project success, success traits, as well as their CSFs identified the project management actions that must be monitored during reconstruction. Since the project management approach is widely recognized for PDR projects, these success traits hold huge potential for effective organization and management of housing reconstruction projects. The study also helped to identify project management traits that need improvements for the successful implementation of post-disaster housing projects in Kerala. Thus the research findings can serve as a foundational study for formulating project management strategies appropriate to PDR projects in Kerala.

Critical Success Factor Models for Project Success

“…Further, statistical tests indicated a variation in the perception between the two stakeholder groups. Anilkumar and Banerji (2020) have considered only post-disaster housing reconstruction projects (i.e., only a specific project type). They investigated factors that contributed to the successful implementation of tsunami housing projects in Kerala and proposed a model for CSFs for post-disaster reconstruction projects.…”

A Systems-thinking Approach to Assess the Efficacy of Local Fisheries Management towards Sustainability

“…Furthermore, the 2004 tsunami, affected more than 18 countries including India. In southern India, over 187 villages were severely impacted in the districts of Ernakulam, Alappuzha, and Kollam, which led to 171 fatalities, numerous injuries and a loss of property (Anilkumar and Banerji 2021;Sathiadhas et al 2006). The shery sector was one of the worst-hit by the tsunami with an average income loss of 40 to 67 percent, which led to exacerbation of poverty (Sathiadhas and Prathap 2008).…”

A Bibliometric Analysis and Review of Building Information Modelling for Post-Disaster Reconstruction

“…Moreover, during the past few years, several studies have been conducted in this area to investigate various variables exerting either negative or positive impacts on a PDR project [3][4][5]9,10,68,[70][71][72]. The unsuccessful outcomes of PDR projects are due to the following: inadequate availability of resources, delays in project implementations, inadequate coordination amidst participation organizations, corruptions, substandard quality of the reconstructed building, inadequate community participation, inadequate road access, inadequate government support, problems with land availability and acquisition, ineffective design, conventional 2D documentation, manual schedule and cost estimation, and inadequate extensive resource database.…”

“…The large-scale damages caused by infrastructures and houses are accompanied by injuries and fatalities, reversal or stagnation of the local economy, and mislaying of livelihood sources [2]. Post-disaster reconstruction (PDR) has been gaining more attention in the world because of frequent natural environment disasters, such as earthquakes tsunamis, and other activities, caused by human-made factors, such as conflicts and wars, which have raised the importance of PDR [3,4]. Following the increasing occurrence of major disasters, stakeholders are increasingly initiating reconstruction to reduce the effects of those disasters on the built environment; however, reconstruction projects are considered challenging to implement in terms of capacity and resources [5,6].…”