The Effectiveness of Bam Earthquake Reconstruction Plan on the Physical Development of Rural Housing

One of the fundamental goals in physical development planning is to reduce the vulnerability of the constructed space to environmental hazards. One of the most important dangerous crises in the geographical space of the country is the occurrence of earthquakes and the resulting economic and social damages. The occurrence of the Bam earthquake in 2003 led to the implementation of the "Reconstruction Plan of Bam city and surrounding villages" in 2005, which has had thought-provoking changes in the planning and reconstruction of rural housing. This study intends to identify and analyze the evolution of housing and its basic functions in the structural-functional understanding of rural housing by physically examining and evaluating the mentioned plan. The present study is applied in terms of purpose with a "positivist" approach and is descriptive-analytical based on methodology. Information and data were collected through documentary and field methods in the form of questionnaires, observations and purposeful interviews. Data were recorded, processed and analyzed in statistical software and GIS environment. The statistical population of the study was the villages covered by the Bam city reconstruction plan. Twelve villages were selected using cluster sampling method based on the effect of earthquake penetration and the formation of a three-dimensional matrix. The three-dimensional matrix included: the number of households in the village, the distance of the village from the fault and the epicenter of the earthquake, and the amount of damage to the village. In the next step, the samples were determined based on Morgan table and finally, by distributing the researcher-made questionnaires in proportion to the weight of the population of each village, 354 questionnaires were completed by the heads of households. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were determined using experts in the field of rural planning and Cronbach's test (0.94), respectively. Findings show that in the housing pattern of the affected villages of Bam, fundamental changes have taken place in retrofitting and the type and location of materials, map, number of rooms and the level of infrastructure compared to before and after the earthquake. One of the results of the effectiveness of the reconstruction plan is the visible functional changes and the lack or incompatibility of some functions in the newly built houses. This means that pre-earthquake bio-subsistence housing has become purely post-reconstruction bio-housing. The role of the villagers in these developments has been very small, which has been due to the centralism of the project. In reviewing the design and reconstruction of rural houses at risk of earthquakes, the following should be considered: institutionalization of rural participation, utilization of indigenous knowledge, rural housing with socio-economic functions and especially the origins of special culture, planning and intervention in rural physical context and access to the pattern of sustainable rural housing.