Housing is deeply intertwined with socio-cultural identity, psychological stability, livelihood systems, and community continuity. In post-disaster contexts, where damaged houses signify both material loss and symbolic rupture, reconstruction becomes a socio-political process that extends beyond the delivery of physical structures. This paper presents an integrative review of global post-disaster housing and resettlement experiences, examining how reconstruction approaches, policy provisions, and community participation shape long-term recovery outcomes. Among the five approaches, evidence indicates that Owner-Driven Reconstruction (ODR) is often the most responsive model because it supports autonomy, cultural alignment, and incremental adaptation, although it remains limited for vulnerable groups with restricted technical or financial capacity. The paper also analyzes the influence of policy coherence, legal frameworks, governance mechanisms, and spatial planning, including site selection, land-use considerations, building codes, and inter-agency coordination, on reconstruction equity and sustainability. The review of community participation shows that meaningful, iterative, and inclusive engagement enhances cultural fit, reduces abandonment, improves psychosocial recovery, and strengthens long-term resilience, whereas top-down models often lead to dissatisfaction and misalignment with local practices. The synthesis argues that effective post-disaster housing recovery requires integrated, participatory, and context-sensitive processes that respect cultural practices, address intersectional vulnerabilities, and support households in rebuilding their lives, livelihoods, and sense of place.
Uprety et al. (Wed,) studied this question.