Adaptation, adaptability and resilience: the recovery of Kobe after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995

ABSTRACT

In the past few years, the concept of resilience has captured the attention of academics, politicians and public opinion and has been identified as the source of recovery policies of local, regional and national economies. As a result, searching for the so-called resilient factor has led governments to manage territories and resources, combining sustainability and adaptation in an increasingly risky world. The purpose of this paper is to investigate resilience in response to natural disasters through the analysis of the recovery process of the city of Kobe destroyed by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. Japanese regions have always coexisted with significant external pressures often leading to environmental disasters and consequent relevant economic and social damage. Kobe has been an emblematic case because of its rapidity in urban reconstruction and speeding of economic recovery. Kobe and the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 represent a successful case of resilient city able to adapt to changing circumstances and to foster local development proposing a renewed image of a creative city.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• earthquake
• Kobe
• recovery
• creative city

Acknowledgements

This paper benefits from a visiting period at the Department of Planning in Oxford Brookes University and at the Urban Research Plaza in Osaka City University in 2015. We are grateful for the opportunity, assistance and support with our research, especially to Professor James Simmie, Professor Masayuki Sasaki and last but not least to Professor Phil Cooke.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.