Sustainable Housing in Climate and Disaster Vulnerable Contexts: A Comparative Legal and Policy Analysis of Turkey and Germany’s Adaptation and Disaster Response Frameworks

This article examines how Germany and Turkey address sustainable refugee and disaster-displaced housing in the context of natural hazards. Using a functional comparative legal methodology, it compares the governance allocation and coordination; housing standards and resilience plans; and the integration of refugee shelters into welfare and disaster framework. The analysis combines doctrinal review with empirical data such as official statistics, surveys, policy reports, and testimonies examining housing stability, resilience and legal protection. The study is anchored in post-disaster housing response for the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquake and the 2021 Ahr Valley Floods. Turkey’s centralized governance has reactive approach results in endemic loopholes, subjecting refugees to secondary displacement and insecure housing. Germany’s precautionary and decentralised framework integrates housing within broader welfare regimes. The analysis directs policy suggestions for both countries that emphasize the relevance of joined-up governance and resilient, inclusive shelter systems as a way to properly address compound displacement risks.