Measuring housing well-being of disaster affected persons in Chennai (India)

Abstract

The impact of disasters on human well-being extends beyond loss of assets. Asset based compensation approach, usually in monetary form, that the governments adopt for reconstruction of losses of affected persons is marred by challenges in identification of compensable disasters; identification of eligible claimants; identification of compensable losses; and valuation of losses. The largest asset that a household possesses is their house, which suffers major damage. Loss to a house goes beyond the asset itself and affects many dimensions of human well-being. The question this paper examines is, what are the dimensions of well-being, that housing and its location, as resource, have been able t..