Abstract
Disaster recovery is often evaluated through infrastructure, housing, and financial assistance, while the administrative processes through which residents access these resources receive less attention. This article examines how public service systems may produce unequal recovery by distributing administrative burdens unevenly among disaster-affected residents in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. It develops an analytical framework connecting administrative burden, street-level bureaucracy, social equity, and post-disaster governance. The article uses a qualitative documentary synthesis of peer-reviewed studies, Indonesian legal and policy documents, and established theoretical literature. The analysis focuses on four mechanisms: documentary and eligibility requirements; fragmented authority and interagency coordination; frontline discretion and information asymmetry; and the spatial and social costs of relocation. Published research on Palu identifies challenges involving communication, coordination, housing provision, land status, livelihood disruption, and the allocation of responsibilities across government levels. Interpreted through administrative burden theory, these issues suggest that formal eligibility and programme availability do not guarantee equivalent practical access. Residents with fewer resources may face higher learning, compliance, and psychological costs when navigating administrative systems. The article contributes a framework for understanding administrative inequality as an outcome that can emerge through routine rules and implementation practices, even without explicit discriminatory intent. It proposes reforms centred on case management, documentary flexibility with safeguards, transparent eligibility decisions, assisted service channels, and equity-sensitive monitoring. The argument is analytical rather than a claim of new field findings; its propositions require validation through interviews, observations, and administrative data.
