Post‐Disaster Recovery as a Multidimensional Process: A Systematic Literature Review of Relational Dynamics and Pathway‐Dependent Outcomes

ABSTRACT

While disaster recovery scholarship has shifted from traditional linear, material‐focused narratives toward multidimensional frameworks, critical gaps remain in understanding relational domain interactions and their context‐specific outcomes. This systematic literature review synthesizes 50 empirical, people‐centered studies to advance multidimensional recovery theory from descriptive domain categorization toward a relational, pathway‐oriented framework. Analysis reveals recovery as a dynamic system of interacting social, institutional, material, livelihood, cultural, and psychological dimensions, where outcomes emerge from domain alignments rather than isolated interventions. Key findings demonstrate that governance architecture and pre‐existing inequalities determine recovery trajectories more than disaster type or national income. Socially‐driven and hybrid pathways consistently produce adaptive, equitable outcomes across contexts, while fragmented top‐down approaches generate trade‐offs, exclusion, and negative equity. Positive interactions center on social‐psychological and social‐livelihood linkages, yet require enabling institutional contexts; negative institutional‐cultural conflicts dominate where standardized interventions erode local identity and cohesion. Temporal trade‐offs between short‐term material gains and long‐term sustainability pervade dominant recovery models. Persistent research limitations including short horizons, methodological silos, equity blindness, and domain under‐representation constrain comprehensive understanding. The study bridges theory and practice, challenging checklist frameworks for context‐sensitive approaches that anticipate domain interactions, prioritize participatory design, and address structural inequalities. Effective recovery demands relational coordination across sectors, not merely expanded domain awareness.