Preserving the Identity of Small Settlements during Post-Disaster Reconstruction in Italy(1)

The nature of small, historic settlements in Apennine Italy is described and options for reconstructing them are discussed. Villages and towns are disproportionately vulnerable to damage by even small earthquakes, which can cause substantial changes to their distinctive character. Responses to such events are outlined, including various strategies of evacuation and the process of developing standardized methods for post-disaster architectural survey. Rationales for demolishing damaged buildings, and their role in causing decentralization of the settlements, are discussed. The effects of temporary shelter and contemporary reconstruction plans are evaluated in terms of their impact on the changing urban landscape of such towns. Finally, inconsistencies in government reconstruction funding are shown to be responsible for much of the variability of post-disaster recovery in Italy. Hence, existing theoretical models are of little use in predicting the course of reconstruction.