Due to its location on the Alpine-Himalayan belt, Iran is one of the five earthquake-prone countries in the world. The statistics show that a severe earthquake occurs in the country every four years on average which destroys about 97 percent of rural residential units in the affected region. Every year, more than 3 million people are left homeless because of natural disasters; 80% of whom are those affected by earthquakes. One of the most striking consequences of earthquakes is the collapse of buildings and therefore the people who are left homeless.
Most rural dwellings form in response to identity and climatic, cultural, social and functional needs and develop a homogeneous complex with unique identity from the perspective of functional nature, human needs, people's activities, construction elements, and the environment. In addition to providing shelter, safety, comfort and privacy, rural dwelling is part of the production supply chain in rural areas. The existing rural dwellings are examples of this feature. The focus of the present study on rural housing is important because the new housing built for rural inhabitants affected by earthquakes often works against the surrounding environment and life due to their disregard for the concept of dwelling in rural areas. In the best cases, these housing units suffer from many defects and shortcomings. It is therefore essential to consider rural housing design principles and local patterns in post-earthquake rehabilitation. Otherwise, the new construction will be at odds with its surrounding and would lead to physical, social, and technical consequences.
A village located on the outskirts of Heris in East Azerbaijan province of Iran, Sarand was hundred percent destroyed in the earthquake of 2012, followed by a rehabilitation effort. The present study assesses post-earthquake housing resident satisfaction and presents proper strategies and solutions for quality and structural improvement. The study will be conducted using a survey-based methodology in which data are collected using questionnaires, observations, and interviews and the criteria are rated on based on the Likert scale. The results show the post-earthquake housing residents have low satisfaction with the indoor scale criteria (33%), outdoor scale criteria (38.5%), Economic criteria (43%) and Perceptual and visual criteria (41%) and moderate satisfaction with the social-cultural criteria (54%) and Technical and environmental criteria (64%).The results also show that the satisfaction can be improved at architecture and design scale by increasing the floor area, increasing the number and floor area of bedrooms, proper separation of guest room from other spaces, creating storage spaces at home or setbacks in the walls for placement of furniture and handicrafts, providing the possibility of future extensions, adding other needed spaces including stable, barn, etc., considering large back yards as well as spaces for storage of agricultural products, paving and improving sanitation, landscaping of the backyard, admission of sunlight to the stable and barn, considering a space for disposal of animal waste, adding porch to the yard, at the social scale by using highly skilled labor in the construction, participation of residents in design, construction, and material specification of residential housing, and at technical level by improving natural ventilation, adding corridor to conserve energy.