How Turkey’s hasty rebuild could set the nation up for another disaster

March 22, 2023 admin-dominor

Three weeks after the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey, the country had already started to rebuild.

One of the things that you really want to do is have a thoughtful recovery. A deliberative recovery against all instincts to go fast.

Especially after a major earthquake:

“Every earthquake reveals something new about our fault zones. If you’re building without truly understanding the geology, you are prone to making similar mistakes again and again and again.”

Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is facing an election in May. He’s promised to rebuild devastated areas in one year.

Experts say planning and community input are key in disaster recovery – otherwise – mistakes are made — costly and deadly ones.

“So in the long run, speedy recovery does not benefit anyone.”

Today, On Point: How Turkey’s hasty rebuild could set them up for another disaster.

Guests

Erven Aydoğan, executive director of the non-profit Needs Map using online platform to match those in need with organizations and people who can help him.

Immediately after the quake he went to the disaster zones and is currently working on several recovery projects in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program.

Divya Chandrasekhar, associate professor of City and Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on post-disaster recovery.

Jared Maslin, Middle East correspondent based in Istanbul covering Turkey and the wider region.