The hazard literature has documented the unsuccessful results of post-disaster transitional housing programs, attributing them to misunderstandings and misconceptions about transitional housing. This implies a mismatch between the ways ‘experts’ and decision-makers conceive and plan transitional housing and the ways people perceive, experience and use them. This paper explores the use of a housing pathways framework to improve our understanding of the multiple ways in which transitional housing is perceived, experienced and used by disaster-affected people in low-income cities. For illustrating this point, we focus on the case of the city of Sarpol-e Zahab in Iran that was struck by an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale in 2017. The paper relies on a fieldwork study conducted in 2017–2018 in the city. This case provides a number of insights, in particular given that the state programs provided two options of cash grant and pre-fabricated units to households for transitional housing. In addition to reporting transitional housing activities in the city, we show that the four identified housing pathways in this city account for pre- and post-earthquake structural forces as well as households’ own choices and strategies for adaptation. Highlighting how households’ post-disaster trajectories were influenced by different aspects of post-disaster policies and interventions, the paper concludes with some recommendations for transitional housing programs in the context of lower-income cities.

灾害文献记录了灾后过渡性住房计划的失败结果，将其归因于对过渡性住房的误解和误解。这意味着“专家”和决策者构思和规划过渡性住房的方式与人们感知、体验和使用它们的方式不匹配。本文探讨了住房路径框架的使用，以提高我们对低收入城市中受灾人群感知、体验和使用过渡性住房的多种方式的理解。为了说明这一点，我们重点关注伊朗 Sarpol-e Zahab 市的案例，该市在 2017 年发生了里氏 7.3 级地震。本文基于 2017 年至 2018 年在该市进行的实地调查研究. 这个案例提供了一些见解，特别是考虑到州计划向过渡性住房的家庭提供了现金补助和预制单元两种选择。除了报告城市中的过渡性住房活动外，我们还表明，该市确定的四种住房路径解释了地震前后的结构性力量以及家庭自己的选择和适应策略。本文强调了家庭的灾后轨迹如何受到灾后政策和干预措施不同方面的影响，最后提出了一些针对低收入城市背景下的过渡性住房计划的建议。除了报告城市中的过渡性住房活动外，我们还表明，该市确定的四种住房路径解释了地震前后的结构性力量以及家庭自己的选择和适应策略。本文强调了家庭的灾后轨迹如何受到灾后政策和干预措施不同方面的影响，最后提出了一些针对低收入城市背景下的过渡性住房计划的建议。除了报告城市中的过渡性住房活动外，我们还表明，该市确定的四种住房路径解释了地震前后的结构性力量以及家庭自己的选择和适应策略。本文强调了家庭的灾后轨迹如何受到灾后政策和干预措施不同方面的影响，最后提出了一些针对低收入城市背景下的过渡性住房计划的建议。