Systems Thinking Approach for Resilient Critical Infrastructures in Urban Disaster Management and Sustainable Development

Abstract

Unpredictability is a common feature of complex systems where a small change can bring about large differences, both good and bad. Continuous developments and technological interventions are making modern cities extremely dependent and complex. Along with the complexity, cities are hotspots of disasters—a major factor of urban vulnerability. Disaster resilience of an urban system relies on the effective management of its complexities. Enhancing the resilience of infrastructure systems is critical to the sustainability of the society. Prosperity and quality of life in cities highly rely on the essential services from critical infrastructure systems. In the beginning, this chapter elaborated the importance of critical infrastructures in urban emergency response, and their vulnerabilities from internal (inherent complexities) and external (natural and manmade hazards) factors. Following this issue, cities are compared with complex system and the importance of systems thinking in urban emergency response, disaster resilience and future sustainability are enlightened. Finally, this chapter introduced many theories, tools, and models related to systems thinking and their potentials for modeling complex connectivity and interdependence among the infrastructures in an urban system. For disaster resilience and future sustainability city managers should adopt system-thinking approach and computer aided decision support system for emergency response, disaster management and new development.