Disaster recovery: narrating the resilience process in the reconstruction of L’Aquila (Italy)

The paper uses a disaster resilience (hereafter DR) framework to investigate the case study of L’Aquila, Italy, affected by an earthquake in 2009. It considers DR as a shared and dynamic process integrating the capacities of individuals and communities, and enacted by place-based emergent groups (hereafter EGs). The paper aims to narrate DR in L’Aquila from the grassroots’ standpoint using semi-structured interviews, analysing the EG’s ideas and initiatives in reconstructing the city. It asserts that the integration of this DR into institutional strategies would have more successful targeted the needs of local communities during the reconstruction process. Conclusions frame the reconstruction in L’Aquila within the context of Italian disaster management, and discuss how this case study can be evidence for studies on disaster recovery and resilience.