International viewpoints on Urban Resilience

The sustainability paradigm dominated urban policy and practice for the last two decades, but in recent years resilience has become a major focus for cities. A growing number of communities are developing resilience plans and even hiring Chief Resilience Officers in addition to, or in place of, sustainability plans. In essence, urban resilience is about the ability of communities to cope with disruptions and change, but definitions and models for urban resilience are highly contested. What does this concept mean in theory and practice? What is the relationship between sustainability and resilience? How can we operationalize these fuzzy concepts? And how would we recognize whether or not a city is sustainable or resilient? This course will introduce Ph.D. students to current debates on urban resilience theory and practice, as well as its intersections with urban sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. We will discuss how resilience concepts are applied in specific urban domains including the built environment, transportation and mobility, social justice, public health and safety, green infrastructure and urban agriculture, housing, community, and economic development, and governance. The course drew on the latest research on these topics as well as practical examples.

The course was planned to start on June 20th until July 5th (see brochure). It introduced Ph.D. students to current debates on urban resilience theory and practice, as well as its intersections with urban sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and disaster risk reduction.The workshop lasted 15 hours. PhD Students explored the opportunity to enrich their PhD curriculum.