Post-disaster development among yushu peri-urban nomads: Local agency, risk perception and legal framework (Qinghai Province, PRC)

Land degradation, overgrazing, poverty and a lack of education are the rationales invoked in the last decades for the resettling of the nomadic communities of Qinghai province. But what if a 'post-disaster' intervention suddenly becomes the main catalyst for the implementation of such measures? In the wake of the 2010 Yushu earthquake, reconstruction works completely reshaped the highly damaged urban centre of Jyekundo, as well as some of the nomadic areas of the Yushu Tibetan Prefecture. In particular, this article discusses the case of Baji village, a newly-built resettlement situated on the southern outskirts of the city near Yushu Batang Airport. Conceived as a model for the development of rural tourism, this nomadic resettlement is taken as a case-study for analysing the interplay of 'post-disaster' reconstruction policies, pre-earthquake development programmes, local responses and risk perception between 2010 and 2017.