Disaster recovery as participation: lessons from the Shaky Isles

Despite broad scholarly consensus that public participation in disaster recovery is highly desirable, in practice, appropriate and effective forms of community involvement are difficult to achieve. Drawing on both non-disaster participatory planning theory and disaster recovery literature, this paper explores a possible relationship between participation in specific activities (the ‘substance’ of recovery) and participation in decision-making (the ‘processes’ framing recovery activities). This raises questions about a possible connection between ‘token’ forms of participation and a similarly ‘token’ recovery and indicates a need to better understand how ‘successful’ recoveries are measured. In addressing these questions, this paper documents some different forms of participation witnessed in Canterbury, New Zealand—the so-called Shaky Isles—following an extended earthquake sequence. I conclude that recovery as participation requires a more nuanced understanding that recognizes the co-constitutional nature of procedural and substantial aspects. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015