An Investigation on Post-Disaster Housing Resident Satisfaction in Subaşı After the Marmara Earthquake

Abstract

This paper is the result of a survey that aims to learn the perceptions and evaluations of the people living in permanent residences after the Marmara Earthquake. In doing so, it guides the decision-makers and researchers about the features that should be in the planning stage of permanent residences and to bring out some points that they should take into account in the future. Within the extent of the study, permanent houses which have been built in Subaşı Village, Yalova, Turkey have been analyzed in the meaning of post-earthquake housing applications after the Marmara earthquake on 17 August 1999. In the research, the planning of the houses built in Subaşı Village, the overall evaluations about the design, the principles of entitlement, the planning method of the permanent houses, and the demographic features of the householders are evaluated. For this reason, a questionnaire was created to understand the thoughts of the respondents. In this sense, users' satisfaction was examined through the survey which based on interviews with the householders. Within the questionnaire, the users have answered some questions such as demographic characteristics, economic conditions, and the degree of previous house satisfaction, the physical, social, environmental features of the permanent houses, social relations, and general perceptions. In doing this, users were asked to evaluate the positive and negative aspects of the project. One of the most critical problems in the area is transportation. On the other hand, problems have also emerged in the social relations of people settled in permanent residences after a physically destructive earthquake. In general, participants have definite opinions about the houses on earthquake resilience, size, and location of residential interiors, visual privacy, and lighting. Also, they have negative notions about auditory privacy, heating, transportation to the city center, relations with relatives, problemsolving with neighbors, municipal services. As a result of the research, it is observed that the permanent residential areas in Subaşı could not unite with the existing city. The findings suggest that the permanent residences in the research area produced for the people who suffered from the earthquake have not been able to meet the needs of the households sufficiently. Besides, looking at the results of the study from a broad perspective, it is necessary to evaluate the subject holistically so that the permanent houses do not create new problems for the despairing households.