Reviewing social lessons learned from temporary housing after the earthquake in Iran

This article highlights the "social void" in the process of disaster management in Iran. In this process, the so-called "post-disaster shelter" period is a vital time during which part of the strength or weakness of management is evaluated. Temporary housing includes a combination of forms of transitional shelter and non-permanent housing for disaster victims under the names of shelter, emergency housing, short-term housing, etc., which covers technical-structural, physical-environmental, and social-cultural aspects. The findings are based on the data of the research project "Temporary Housing in the Kermanshah Earthquake" in 2018, which employed a qualitative method, including in-depth interviews with 300 people. By rereading the experiences of providing temporary housing in Iran's major earthquakes, especially the Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake, this paper finds some important social lessons learned and emphasizes them: "Limited acceptance of group camps and insistence on individual choice", "Criticism of redundancy and lack of coordination in organizing and distributing goods and services, leading to a sense of inequality and discrimination", "The influx of opportunistic non-natives in crisis-stricken areas and creating panic and insecurity", "Little use of local capacities and indigenous knowledge in social resilience", "Uniform settlement without regard to ethnic ties, kinship system and social taboos", "Lack of a definite program in strengthening local self-help by taking advantage of the power of social groups including women" and "people’s and officials’ incorrect perception and expectation of each other's duties". Emphasizing the re-reading of social factors, the article focuses on the common points emerging from the findings of various researches. In the end, it suggests some policies to avoid or adapt for improving the mentioned process.