Multidisciplinary research to advance the development of functional recovery for community resilience

Abstract

Functional recovery has the potential to serve as the link between asset-level design of the built infrastructure and community-level resilience to disasters. This article reviews current research and development efforts to advance the science-supporting post-earthquake recovery-based performance objectives for buildings and critical lifelines in the United States (US). We propose a holistic approach to the development of recovery-based design criteria that considers the various stakeholder perspectives within three distinct but interrelated stages of development: formulation of design guidance, codes, and standards; implementation of guidance, codes, and standards into practice; and evaluation of outcomes and impact. We propose a market-based stakeholder analysis that frames the diverse stakeholder perspectives within their role in supporting each stage: Policy Makers (the market makers), Decision Makers (the supply side), and End Users (the demand side). Within this context, we make two recommendations to support the development of recovery-based design standards: (1) economic evaluation should be conducted in conjunction with engineering design; (2) efforts at the formulation stage should be forward-looking to the implementation stage. Finally, we discuss challenges for implementation (defining critical functions, equity and community resilience, and monitoring, enforcement, and evaluation) and open questions for the future of functional recovery in supporting community resilience goals.