Mapping and weaving for urban resilience implementation: A tale of two cities

Abstract

As urban resilience has become a public policy objective and has been increasingly present and at the forefront of the urban political agenda, local authorities are recognized as key actors in this implementation process. Urban civil servants responsible for resilience lack a clear and common objective to create an outcome, however they recognize that implementation requires moving from the stovepipe administration suited to predictable problems to collaborative networks focused on preparedness and the reduction of vulnerabilities. This comparative case study examines how urban resilience agenda setting and implementation processes intertwine in London and Montreal in the early stages of the development of their urban resilience policy. This paper identifies the challenges faced by urban civil servants working to achieve coordination and change in an uncertain context towards an ill-defined destination. Efforts, evident in both cities, to combine crisis management priorities with long-term planning to face issues such as climate change, appear as a trigger to incrementaly implement and transform governance mechanisms in order to combine mapping interdependent issues and weaving coordination.