| In Sichuan Province during the May 12 Wenchuan earthquake, most of the severely damaged areas were in the mountainous region. The affected area totaled about thirty thousand square kilometers with a population of five million.85% of the affected people were farmers. Therefore, rebuilding and rehabilitation of the rural villages were the main focus and also a very challenging task faced by the government. In this dissertation, the rebuilding process of the disaster areas was consisted of four phases:(1). Short Term Rescue Phase immediately after the disaster, (2). Transition Phase (supplying basic needs to survive and providing basic services to start the production cycle), (3). Mid-term Rebuilding Phase (three years to complete major projects), (4). Long Term Rebuilding Phase (economic activities, production and people's lives are back to normal developmental pattern).My thesis, using the Mid-term Rebuilding Phase as background, focused mainly on the more severely damaged rural areas. My research methodology was a combination of formal analysis and case studies. The goal was to develop a useful and reliable indexing system so that rebuilding of the affected areas could be measured and studied effectively. It would also indicate key segments for sustainable development of the affected communities.By using the methods of specialist counseling, listing, comparative analysis of the relevant data points under normal and abnormal conditions, five measuring indices were carefully selected to establish the foundation of the indexing system. The five indices were Damage Assessment of the Farming Community, Rebuilding of Permanent Housing, Outside Assistance to Rebuilding, Recognition and Involvement of the Local Government, and Mental and Spiritual Rebuilding of the Family Unit. Twenty variables were identified that would affect the Rural Rebuilding Index System.Next, I applied AHP layered analysis to identify the weight of each index. I then used personal visits and questionnaires to collect the variables and data of the two villages. After standardization of the data, using integrated evaluation method, the combined scores of the two villages were obtained.The conclusion was that:from the vertical comparative index, Yangliu village and Laochang Village both were severely damaged areas. During the two years of rebuilding, due to support from many levels of the government, both villages did well in rebuilding. Both were selected as models for rebuilding on new location and centralized rebuilding. However, from the horizontal comparative index, the combined score of Yangliu village was significantly higher than Laochang village.This indicated that Yangliu village was better in it's rebuilding outcome. This was consistent with my observation during my visits to the villages. Utilizing the support from the appointed government agencies and taking advantage of the significant investment of NGO, plus the cohesiveness and optimistic culture of the Jiang minority tribes, the rebuilding went very well. The local government consistently maintained new approach, new goals, new vision and the desire to enrich the people. Those factors accelerated the building of permanent housing so that the villagers were able to move in early to the environmentally friendly and energy efficient housings. This also provided evidence that the Rural Rebuilding Index System was applicable and usable. This thesis presented a comprehensive index system to measure the rebuilding of rural areas. It also provided valuable reference for rural rebuilding combined evaluation of disaster affected communities. |
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