ABSTRACT
Temporary housing projects are often criticised for being economically, socially and environmentally unsustainable. However, it can be argued that temporary housing provides an essential service to disaster-affected families, who need to recover their lives and livelihoods as soon as possible. In many post-disaster situations, the reconstruction of permanent housing takes several months to even start and probably a number of years to complete. So families need a place to resume their daily life, even if it’s a temporary solution. Temporary housing takes on many different physical forms, from wooden shacks to more elaborate prefabricated buildings. Forms of provision are equally varied; housing may be provided through centralised top-down means or self-built by the affected families themselves.
