ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the importance of communal leadership in housing reconstruction. It argues that local governance and capacities have been critical for post-Hurricane Mitch housing reconstruction in Nicaragua. The chapter is based on a comparative study of post-disaster housing reconstruction in the two municipalities San Dionisio and Ocotal, in 2007. Local governance in San Dionisio was characterized by low levels of transparency, downward accountability, responsibility, and fairness and proved to be a problem for the housing reconstruction process. External interventions should consider and strongly take into account the various degrees of local capacities. The municipal housing interventions in Ocotal were guided by the principles of good governance. Post-Mitch reconstruction had been perceived by the town authorities—in particular by the then mayor—as an opportunity to improve the precarious housing situation of the affected urban poor and to counter the problematic urban development patterns.
