1. Prof. David Alexander
CESPRO - University of Florence
Security and Welfare:
the View from L'Aquila, Italy

2. Disaster risk
reduction
Incident
management
Population
(community)
protection
Plans,
procedures,
protocols
Human
and material
resources
Hazard
forecasting,
monitoring,
etc.

3. Analysis
• registered
• archived
• forgotten
• ignored
Vulnerability
maintained.
-
• utilised
• adopted
• learned
Disaster
risk
reduced
+
Lessons
Past
events
The process of
disaster risk
reduction
(DRR)

4. What is welfare?
The provision of
care to a minimum
acceptable standard
to people who are
unable adequately
to look after
themselves.
But we also need
to focus on what
welfare is NOT...

5. • magnitude 6.3, duration 25 seconds
• acceleration on hard rock 0.3g,
on soft sediments 0.7-1.0g
• part of an earthquake swarm
that has lasted many months
• the first earthquake with
epicentre very near a major
urban centre in Italy since 1915.
The L'Aquila earthquake of 6 April 2009

6. • 308 deaths
• 1,500 injuries: 202 serious,
550 moderate, 750 light
• 67,000 homeless survivors
• 100,000 buildings seriously damaged
• 16 towns devastated, 33 damaged.
Impact of the L'Aquila earthquake

7. • c.21,000 people in tents for summer
months, April-September 2009
• c. 22,000 people in hotels,
some far away from L'Aquila
• rapid construction of transitional
accommodation for 65% of survivors.
Government policy on shelter

8. • 4,600 apartments in 184
buildings on 19 sites
• €280,607 per apartment (€3,875
per square meter of living space).
C.A.S.E. - Complessi Antisismici
Sostenibili ed Ecocompatibili

9. • €1,427 per base isolator @40 per bldg.

10. C.A.S.E. at Assergi - built on
an unstabilised asbestos dump.

11. Lack of wastewater treatment facilities.

12. • standard prefabs without base isolation
• 54 sites, half of them in L'Aquila city
• 8,500 people accommodated.
M.A.P. - Moduli abitativi provvisori

13. • social fragmentation leads to
depression, isolation and marginalisation
• total lack of services and transportation
• induced dependence on private transport
without infrastructure improvement
• exclusion of single person 'families'.
Problems with CASE and MAP sites

14. • stagnation of reconstruction
through lack of funds and planning
• political paralysis and
intimidation by central government
• massive rise in unemployment
• local inflation, especially of house rents
• loss of basic services.
Problems with L'Aquila recovery policy

15. Conclusions

16. The L'Aquila recovery process is driven by
short-term political expediency, leading
to the repetition of ancient policy errors,
particularly lack of democratic governance

17. Organisation Resources
Self-organisation
Imposed
organisation
Volunteerism
Community disaster planning
Laws, protocols, directives
Standards, norms, guidelines
Community
resources
Governmental
resources
Donations
International resources

18. Earth-
quake
Political
response
National
Regional
Local
Permanent
reconstruction
Bad
(functional
problems)
Good
(functionality
maintained)
Elections
Public image
of politicians
Amelioration
Political impact
on reconstruction
Suff-
ering
Reco-
veryTransitional
housing and
settlement

19. 2009->: Neoliberalism or more
assistentialism? Vote garnering
versus economic stringency.
1908: Liberalism - the state is
not a big source of disaster relief
1980: Assistentialism - the state
is a major source of largesse.

20. Without participatory governance,
disasters can open a Pandora's box
of irrational, debatable, deleterious,
noxious and arbitrary consequences.

21. Public
participation in
decision making
Government
paternalism
Inclusive
outcomes
Social
exclusion
Discontent
Satisfaction
Discontent
...or...

22. d.alexander@alice.it
emergency-planning.blogspot.com
www.slideshare.com/dealexander
Thank you
for your
attention!