Abstract
Post-disaster recovery is widely regarded as the least understood, yet highly consequential, phase of disaster management, shaping both short consequences and long-term trajectories of affected communities. Recovery efforts tend to prioritise physical reconstruction, often deepening socio-spatial inequalities. This paper argues for a reconceptualisation of recovery through the lenses of spatial justice, highlighting three interrelated dimensions: distributive justice (equitable allocation of resources in space), procedural justice (inclusive and participatory spatial governance) and recognition justice (valuing lived spatial experiences and human dignity). While these dimensions are often present in critiques of recovery practices, they have been approached in a fragmented manner. To address this gap, a systematic literature review (n = 68) examines how recovery practices reproduce socio-spatial inequalities, how governance structures shape recovery processes and how spatial justice can offer a transformative opening in disaster recovery. Understandings of, and responses to, disaster are reframed through the spatial justice lens, proposing an integrated conceptual framework for spatial justice in disaster recovery as a scaffold for critical analysis in research and practice. This provides a useful starting point for more detailed, case-based and methodologically innovative studies that can test and extend the framework.
PRACTICE RELEVANCE
Post-disaster recovery is often approached as a technical challenge of rebuilding, yet practitioners know that decisions about where, how and for whom recovery occurs fundamentally reshape social and spatial relations. An integrated framework is presented to help practitioners identify and address justice concerns in recovery processes. Drawing on a systematic literature review, it highlights how recovery efforts frequently reproduce socio-spatial inequalities through exclusionary governance, market-driven redevelopment and neglect of marginalised communities. The proposed framework brings together distributive, procedural and recognition justice to guide more inclusive and equitable practices. For planners, architects, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and local authorities, it offers a lens through which to critically assess interventions, recognise whose voices are heard or silenced, and design recovery strategies that strengthen community agency and long-term resilience. Rather than restoring pre-disaster vulnerabilities, practitioners can use this framework to envision recovery as a transformative opportunity toward more just and sustainable futures.