Urban Resilience Research Articles

Governing pandemics: Resilience and community responses for COVID-19 in Bengaluru and Shanghai

ABSTRACT This study explores governance strategies and community responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bengaluru and Shanghai. It builds on recent evidence showing China centers on territorial institutions to respond to the pandemic, whereas democratic India relies on associational politics, including alliances with different stakeholders. The study argues that increased community involvement in Shanghai arose from the state’s inadequacies during the crisis, while resident welfare associations (RWAs) in Bengaluru primarily served the middle class and had limited impact on vulnerable populations. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study highlights key lessons that contributed to effective responses in both cities, offering policy recommendations for building resilient cities with stronger leadership. Community reactions in India and China surpassed the normal during the pandemic. Despite differences in urban regimes and political systems, Shanghai’s territorial institutions contrasted with Bengaluru’s associational approach; however local governance and community efforts significantly shaped their pandemic outcomes during the health disaster.

The Role of Green Infrastructure in Providing Urban Ecosystem Services: Insights from a Bibliometric Perspective

Urban ecosystems, and the services they provide, are a key focus of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically SDG 11, which emphasizes making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Green infrastructure (GI) is crucial in enhancing citizens’ quality of life and achieving this goal and it can be defined as a strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas designed to deliver a range of ecosystem services (ESs). These infrastructures improve ecosystem functioning, protect biodiversity, promote health, support sustainable land and water management, and boost the local green economy. This paper explores the scientific literature on GI and their ESs in cities using bibliometric science. By combining the keywords “Green Infrastructures”, “Ecosystem Services”, and “Cities” with VOSviewer software (1.6.20 version), we analyzed trends over time. Results show growing attention to these topics, emphasizing human well-being, urban resilience, and sustainability. The study also highlights that focusing exclusively on either “Green Infrastructure in Cities” or “Ecosystem Services in Cities” leads to fragmented insights. A more integrated examination of these three domains offers a holistic view and underscores the importance of considering ecosystem disservices. The study further identifies key research directions, including the need for a comprehensive evaluation of diverse GI types, especially those that are under-researched, such as green roofs, sports areas, and wetlands, and the underexplored role of cultural ecosystem services. Additionally, future research should consider both the benefits and disservices of GI to support better urban planning decisions. Finally, integrating biophysical, social, and economic values of ESs is critical for providing more holistic insights and enhancing sustainable urban development. The novelty of this paper lies in its integrated, holistic approach to examining GI and ESs in urban areas, with a focus on ecosystem disservices, insufficient attention to specific GI types, and the role of cultural ecosystem services—each contributing to the creation of more resilient and sustainable cities.

Morphological Analysis of Public Spaces and Their Contribution to Urban Resilience in Guelma, Algeria

Modern Algerian cities are facing various uncertainties, both natural and human-made. To address these risks, urban areas need to be more adaptable and responsive. The increasing impact of climate change and the recent pandemic have emphasized the importance of outdoor spaces. As people spend a significant amount of time in these areas, public spaces have become essential for urban life. This study conducts a comparative analysis of public spaces, using a grid-based methodology to identify similarities and differences between two resilient public spaces and the square of Guelma. The analysis is preceded by a literature review that establishes key conceptual frameworks. The main objective is to develop recommendations for resilient public spaces and their contribution to a city's environmental resilience, particularly its capacity to withstand climate change. By understanding how these spaces can mitigate the effects of climate change, this research aims to guide the design and management of urban environments.

The coupling coordination and driving factors of tourism economy and urban ecological resilience: A case study of Shandong Province, China

The coupling coordination and driving factors of tourism economy and urban ecological resilience: A case study of Shandong Province, China

Plant diversity value of informal green spaces in tropical coastal urban areas: An empirical study of species, functional, and phylogenetic diversity

Informal green spaces (IGS) are a hot topic in urban biodiversity studies, but overlooked in urban biodiversity conservation or management, especially in tropical coastal cities, where comprehensive assessments remain scarce. Most existing research has been limited to species diversity (α-diversity), with few studies addressing functional and phylogenetic diversity as aspects of α-diversity, and species turnover (β-diversity) across multiple IGS types. This study bridges these gap by conducting a detailed vegetation survey in Jiangdong New Area of Haikou City, establishing 213 sites. Within these sites, we examined 343 IGS sample plots and 274 formal green spaces (FGS) sample plots. We assessed species, functional, and phylogenetic diversity using α and β diversity metrics and analyzed the influence of environmental factors with generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs). The results recorded 235 species of herbaceous plants from 179 genera and 54 families in IGS, including 215 spontaneous species, compared to 154 spontaneous species in FGS. Our findings indicate that IGS exhibited higher species richness and functional richness compared to FGS, though differences in phylogenetic diversity were less pronounced. Key environmental factors like relative humidity, trampling intensity, and proximity to urban areas significantly influenced species richness and abundance in IGS. These findings underscore the critical role of IGS in enhancing biodiversity and resilience in tropical coastal cities, emphasizing the need to integrate IGS into urban planning strategies for sustainable urban ecosystems.

Clustering of Basic Educational Resources and Urban Resilience Development in the Central Region of China—An Empirical Study Based on POI Data

This paper presents an urban resilience evaluation index system and evaluation on the clustering of educational resources based on the data of 80 prefecture-level cities in China’s central region in 2012, 2016, and 2020. The results reveal a rising trend of urban resilience in the central region of China, with the provincial capital cities exhibiting the highest levels of resilience. Educational resources are clustered in urban areas of provincial capital cities and other prefectural-level cities. Furthermore, clustering of educational resources has a significant impact on urban resilience. Policy factors play a significant role in moderating the relationship between educational resource clustering and urban resilience in large cities; however, this moderating role is not significant in small cities. These findings have significant implications for the optimal allocation of educational resources, promotion of urban resilience, and advancement of social equity.

The Impact of Smart City Policies on City Resilience: An Evaluation of 282 Chinese Cities

This study uses four dimensions, namely social resilience, economic resilience, infrastructure resilience, and ecological resilience, to construct an index system for urban resilience. The subject data came from the panel data of 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2020. We selected a multiperiod double-difference model to study the effects of smart city pilot policies on macro-urban resilience. By conducting parallel-trend tests and selecting appropriate robustness tests, this study drew the following relevant conclusion: smart city pilot policies can have a positive effect on the urban resilience level. These policies exert their influence by facilitating industrial structure upgrading, which plays a partial mediating role. Considering different city area distributions and city scales, smart city pilot policies can have significant heterogeneity in their enhancement of urban resilience. The effect is pronounced in the “east > central > west” states and is more likely to have a significant impact on small- and medium-sized cities. Therefore, promoting the scope of smart city pilots, strengthening the intermediary role of industrial structure upgrading, and implementing differentiated policies for different regions and city sizes are important for sustainable urban development.

Disaster vulnerability in road networks: a data-driven approach through analyzing network topology and movement activity

The rise in natural disasters and climate-induced events, such as wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding, has significantly affected urban life. These events can disrupt daily activity and flows of individuals and goods on road and transit networks. To enhance urban resilience against disasters, it’s crucial to study and understand road network vulnerability, utilizing data-driven insights to inform planning and preparedness efforts. The aim of this paper is to develop a data-driven exploratory approach to assess vulnerability in road networks in response to a disruption. To accomplish this, we compare the centrality of road segments before, during, and after disaster, considering the network topological structure and movement activity as it is observed through large tracking data of cellphone traces on the network. The novelty of our approach lies in inferring the impact from movement data, instead of manually removing links from the network. The results obtained from this study suggest that incorporating movement data into the assessment of network functionality provides a more realistic estimation of the road network vulnerability in response to a disruption, compared to solely using network topology.

Urban Planning Perspective on Food Resilience Assessment and Practice in the Zhengzhou Metropolitan Area, China

This study aims to assess and analyze the urban food resilience of the Zhengzhou metropolitan area, proposing innovative assessment frameworks and methodologies. Utilizing a dual-level analysis approach that combines long-term planning impact analysis (2000–2020) with short-term resilience assessment (2018–2022), the study integrates public government data and Geographic Information System (GIS) data, employing spatial analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation techniques. Findings from 2000 to 2020 indicate that urban planning within the metropolitan area has significantly impacted the food system. Urbanization has led to reduced agricultural land, but improvements in infrastructure have enhanced the efficiency of the food supply chain. Woodland and grassland areas have remained relatively stable, providing an ecological buffer for the food system. Building on this, the short-term assessment from 2018 to 2022 reveals significant dynamic changes and a continuous improvement trend in food resilience, though there is still room for enhancement. Food supply chain management and emergency preparedness and management contributed the most to overall resilience. Notably, extreme events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the “7.20 Flood Disaster” prompted the adoption of innovative measures to enhance food resilience. The study develops a multidimensional theoretical framework and assessment system for urban food resilience, offering new perspectives and methods for understanding and enhancing urban food resilience. The results highlight the critical role of urban planning in enhancing food resilience, recommending the integration of the food system into comprehensive urban planning, strengthening regional collaboration, and enhancing public engagement. These findings provide an important basis for policymaking and practice aimed at improving the long-term adaptability and short-term recovery capabilities of urban food systems.

Designing for happiness, building for resilience: a systematic review of key factors for cities

ABSTRACT Cities today face the dual challenge of increasing vulnerability to disruptions and a growing demand for improved quality of life. By prioritising happiness and resilience, cities can create sustainable environments that promote health, social cohesion, and adaptability to various stresses and withstand economic, social, and environmental shocks while fostering the well-being, inclusivity, and quality of life of all residents. This study aims to understand what indicators most impact urban resilience and happiness through a systematic literature review. Our analysis uncovered that factors with a dual impact on improving urban resilience and happiness fit into the following categories: individual, social, socio-economic, environmental, infrastructural, technological, resource-based, place-based, urban planning, and housing-related. This study provided a comprehensive understanding of how urban design and policies can enhance both resilience and happiness in cities. Policymakers and planners can adapt and use the identified indicators and strategies to enhance citizens’ happiness and create a resilient community in various contexts and under diverse stressors.

From Imbalance to Synergy: The Coupling Coordination of Digital Inclusive Finance and Urban Ecological Resilience in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

In the context of rapid urbanization and digitalization, scientifically assessing the spatio-temporal interaction between digital inclusive finance (DIF) and urban ecological resilience (UER) is crucial for promoting the coordinated development of the regional ecology and economy. This study investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of the coupled coordination degree (CCD), the decoupling phenomenon, and its hindering factors in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) by utilizing the kernel density analysis, standard deviation ellipse, decoupling model, and obstacle degree analysis. Through systematic analyses, this paper aims to elucidate the development disparities among regions within the YREB, identify problematic areas, and propose targeted improvement measures. The results show that (1) The CCD between DIF and UER in the YREB has increased annually from 2011 to 2020. However, there are persistent imbalances, with an overall low level of coordination and uneven spatial development, and a trend of “higher coordination in the east and lower coordination in the west”. (2) The overall CCD of the YREB has reached at least the primary coordination level, with the coupling enhancement speed ranked as “downstream > midstream > upstream”, and regional differences decreasing. (3) The decoupling analysis reveals a predominant decoupling trend between DIF and UER, indicating that the digitization of financial services has not concurrently increased ecological pressures. (4) The obstacle degree analysis identifies resilience and digitalization as major barriers hindering CCD. This study provides a scientific basis and analytical framework for understanding the current spatiotemporal interaction between DIF and UER in the YREB, offering an important reference for formulating more effective policies.

A Cross-National Study on Sustainable Smart City Indicators and Their Influence on Life Expectancy—A Cluster Analysis of EU Countries

As a consequence of climate change and its negative impacts on the environment and on human health, the topic of sustainability has become an integral part of urban policy. Smart city initiatives around the world are focusing on different aspects of sustainability in order to provide better living conditions for their residents. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of selected smart city indicators on the average life expectancy as a variable for quality of life and well-being. Based on a Common Correlated Effects (CCE) model, Instrumental Variable Estimator with Common Factors (2SIV), and clustering regression model, EU countries were divided into three distinct clusters indicating common elements but also specificities of each group. The analysis confirmed the positive impact of GDP growth, renewable energy consumption, and the proportion of the population with a tertiary level of education on life expectancy. On the other hand, CO2 emissions and transport pollution have an adverse effect. The analysis provides valuable insights into the complex relationship between smart city variables and quality of life, and it may serve as a basis for informed and responsible decision-making by relevant urban stakeholders aimed at designing more sustainable, resilient, and healthier cities.

Smart hotspot detection using geospatial artificial intelligence: A machine learning approach to reduce flood risk

This study employs Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) and the Random Forest Machine Learning (ML) algorithm to enhance flood hazard assessments in Portugal. It utilizes NASA's LP DAAC (2023) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and slope data from EPIC WEBGIS PORTUGAL DATA, offering detailed topographical insights for environmental planning. Additionally, it incorporates data on proximity to water bodies from the Portuguese Environment Agency and the European Environment Agency, and soil characteristics from EPIC WEBGIS PORTUGAL DATA, facilitating a thorough examination of flood risks. This approach prioritizes long-term land features over short-term weather patterns, providing a comprehensive understanding of flood vulnerability. The study processes data at a 1 km x 1 km resolution, adapting TIFF maps for compatibility with the Random Forest model. The produced flood hazard maps identify potential flood hotspots at both national and city levels, crucial for urban planning. These maps aid in assessing the vulnerability of key infrastructure and assets, such as transport networks and buildings. The research highlights the importance of integrating additional data on assets and socioeconomic factors to enhance urban resilience. It sets the stage for future research aimed at improving predictive accuracy and underscores the necessity of extensive geospatial analytics in managing infrastructure risks.

Intelligent vs. Cultural: Research on the Path to Improve the Resilience of Urban and Rural Community Governance Based on the AHP-FCE Model

Community resilience is a core component of grassroots governance modernization, and community resilience shows different characteristics depending on the type of community. Existing research on community resilience mainly uses direct questionnaire data, relatively ignoring the differences in weights of various dimensions. Different categories of community resilience components play different roles in community resilience. Based on this, the study cited the logic of the AHP-FCE model and added objective data based on empowering resilience, thus making up for the model's shortcomings while giving full play to the model's advantages. The quantitative analysis of 353 questionnaires from five urban districts and five rural communities in the sample city was based on the community resilience evaluation model. In the current process of community resilience construction, there are typical problems of a lack of cultural resilience in urban community resilience construction and a need for more intelligent resilience in rural community resilience construction. The key to future community resilience construction is reconciling the relationship between cultural and intellectual resilience to solve the problem of targeting deviation in urban communities and rural community resilience construction. It is necessary to adhere to the spirit of "long-term construction" to build the cultural resilience of urban communities, implement the path of "digital empowerment" to make the intelligent resilience of rural communities, and adhere to the standard of "complete redundancy" to form an urban and rural community resilience governance mechanism gradually, and then Move towards more resilient urban and rural community governance and help realize the modernization of grassroots governance.

Integrating HEC-RAS, GIS, and LISREL for assessing and enhancing urban building resilience against flood threats: Comprehensive model and analysis

Floods pose significant threats to urban areas, resulting in substantial human and financial losses annually. The vulnerability of key urban centers to these risks diminishes their efficiency, leading to public dissatisfaction and service deficiencies. Recognizing and enhancing the resilience of essential buildings becomes crucial in mitigating these challenges. This study employs a comprehensive approach to achieve a resilience model for critical buildings facing floods. The research process involves the identification of city assets based on leveling criteria, utilizing GIS technology for spatial mapping. HECRAS software aids in river flow modeling, identifying areas lacking flood-carrying capacity. By overlaying vulnerable gravity centers with flood-prone regions, building resilience components are computed through structural factor analysis and LISREL modeling. The study identifies ten key criteria. Further analysis includes resilience modeling using TOPSIS and AHP methods. The positive ideal and negative ideal solutions are determined, resulting in the grading of building resilience. Notably, the balance redundancy index with cascading potential effects attains the highest positive ideal value at 0.257, while the resistance to a level of stress index achieves the lowest negative ideal value at 0.02. This comprehensive approach and modeling contribute to the understanding and enhancement of urban building resilience in the face of flood threats.

The evolution of urban ecological resilience: An evaluation framework based on vulnerability, sensitivity and self-organization

Ecological resilience assessment has become a key link in urban sustainable governance. This study introduces a new evaluation framework to inform policy-making and practical applications. Based on the structural and functional dimensions of landscape patterns, it integrates the vulnerability, sensitivity and self-organization of resilience to point to desirable directions of ecological resilience. A composite ecological resilience index is compiled based on six indices of landscape diversity, landscape disturbance, source-sink patch distance, habitat quality, minimum cumulative resistance, and landscape restoration. The framework is particularly applicable to cities located in ecologically sensitive areas. Hence, Nanchang City, China was selected as a case study. Using 1km2 hexagonal grids, the framework is applied to map spatiotemporal changes and to analyze various natural and anthropogenic driving forces of ecological resilience in Nanchang from 2000 to 2020. Research findings confirm the feasibility and value of the urban ecological resilience analysis framework. They also highlight the advantages of the framework in revealing spatially dynamic processes and ecological resilience contributing factors, making it a valuable and practical tool for sustainable urban planning and refined management decision-making.

How green can it be? A methodology for calculating green roof retrofit potential in Valencia

Cities are accountable for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions and consume around 65% of the world's energy. In the pathway towards urban decarbonisation, nature-based solutions rise as a promising opportunity. They improve a city's resilience, stabilise temperatures and capture CO2, both mitigating climate change effects and adapting to them. This paper presents a novel methodology to assess the potential effects of green roof retrofit in urban areas, selecting suitable buildings for greening and estimating their decarbonising capacity. The proposed method combines the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and artificial vision algorithms to select the roofs. Once selected, direct carbon sequestration and energetic savings are estimated based on empirical results. This methodology is successfully applied to the L'Illa Perduda neighbourhood of Valencia (Spain) as a case study. The GIS analysis shows that about 50% of the roofs' surface could be greened, directly absorbing around 350 tCO2yr−1 and reducing the energetic emissions of the neighbourhood in about 100 tCO2yr−1 by improving the insulating envelope of the buildings. The artificial vision computation selected 38% of the surface of the neighbourhood residential buildings.

Urban green streets and water management safety hubs in public schools lots

Abstract Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) represents an effective approach to enhance urban resilience to climate change, contributing to runoff regulation and localized flood risk reduction. This study examines the potential for transforming open spaces in public schools into safety hubs for stormwater management in Mediterranean urban contexts, drawing on best practices from North America. Through a methodological analysis combining Research Through Design and an international literary scoping review, case studies of schools in the Metropolitan City of Naples are presented and compared with U.S. projects implementing GSI in school areas. The results highlight the importance of strategic coordination guidelines for local administrators, designers, and school principals, aimed at planning, designing, and managing highly performant green infrastructure networks. An integrated and shared metropolitan-level approach can maximize environmental benefits, transforming schools into community centers for urban resilience education and participatory management of risks related to extreme weather events.

A study of the impact of urban spaces on social resilience in case of natural disasters: Insights from citizens affected by March 2019 flood in Aq Qala City, Iran

The number of urban crises has been notably on the rise all around the globe during the past few decades due to shifts in ecological cycles and social challenges, among other reasons. These crises have had a more pronounced impact on urban areas, which are more vulnerable. The various aspects of resilience have become the focal points in sustainable development research and other related studies, and some solutions have been proposed within the concepts and framework of sustainable development for countering these crises, among which urban resilience is more prominent owing to its inherent functional principles. Among the various aspects of resilience, social resilience is linked to the social capacities of urban regions. A review of the related literature reveals the shortage of studies about the relationship between urban spaces and social resilience. This study aims to uncover the mechanisms through which urban spaces influence social resilience following natural disasters through the perceptions of the citizens affected by the March 2019 flood in Aq Qala, Golestan Province, Iran. To achieve this, we first developed a conceptual model grounded in a review of relevant theoretical literature. Subsequently, a structured 5-point scale questionnaire was designed and distributed for data collection. The collected data was then subjected to structural equation modeling to analyze the conceptual model. The findings highlight the critical factors in forming social resilience from the perspective of Aq Qala residents, with a specific emphasis on city structure, activity, social capital, and social cohesion as integral components.

Оценка жизнестойкости сельских сообществ Ненецкого автономного округа

The concept of resilience is applied to complex social systems to describe the ability of a territory (or settlement) or local community to recover from external shocks. In this context, resilience complements the concept of sustainable development by revealing the mechanisms that enable systems to regenerate during crises. In recent decades, various approaches for assessing urban resilience, including that of Arctic cities in high-risk zones, have been developed in scientific literature. However, a comprehensive methodology for assessing the resilience of Arctic rural communities has not yet been fully developed or tested. The goal of this article is to assess the resilience of several rural communities in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), followed by their comparison and classification. Drawing on Russian researchers' experience in measuring the resilience of Arctic cities, the authors propose their own methodology for assessing the resilience of Arctic rural communities. This methodology involves measuring 11 resilience indicators, which are aggregated into a comprehensive resilience index (R-index). The R-index enables the ranking of Arctic rural communities by their resilience levels. In the course of the study, all surveyed rural communities were classified into four groups based on R-index values: 1) isolated communities with low resilience; 2) vulnerable communities prone to external shocks; 3) administrative centers of rural municipalities with moderate resilience; 4) large and stable rural communities. The primary differentiating factors among these communities include geographical location, transport links and logistics, the structure of local economies, and demographic resources. Overall, Arctic rural communities exhibit a high level of social capital. The novelty of this study lies in its application of the community resilience concept to Arctic rural areas, contributing to a deeper understanding of the factors that shape their development potential. Future research should expand the geographical scope of the study and conduct larger surveys to improve the accuracy and reliability of rural community resilience assessments.