Resilience science, policy and investment for civil infrastructure

Abstract

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season resulted in nearly US $200 billion in disruption across the Caribbean and several US states. Several seeming knockout blows to communities will challenge the wisdom and affordability of resilience paradigms that have shaped policy and investment for civil works since Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. With extensive involvement of the public and lawmakers, mid-Atlantic US cities, New Orleans, and nearby coastal communities ultimately, and mostly successfully, opted to use pre-2005 civil works as the blueprint for future investment. Should options of returning to pre-event normalcy be considered for these latest devastated communities? What would gain and what will suffer? While there is continuing priority and commitment for infrastructure systems to be resilient, the theory, science and methodologies to do so will certainly be tested by recent events. Adoption of a resilience strategy by government agencies requires the wisdom of the emerging science of resilience as never before. We describe economic motivations for implementing resilience assessment and management in damaged communities and large scale complex systems. We describe the latest understood principles of resilience that drive a decision framework. We call for examination of risk-based policymaking and investment decisions by the science of resilience.