Taking a Look at Resilient Cities

Over decades, the research of resilience has developed from understanding individual’s resilience qualities and protective factors, to the process of resilience and the interventions that promote resilience (Richardson, 2002; Wright et al., 2013). Recently, the focus of resilience shift to the neurobiological process because of the development of science and technology (Wright et al., 2013). While these literatures emerging, there are two noteworthy issues. First, the outcome of the studies were mainly emphasized on main-stream population (Ungar, 2006). Second, little attention was given to resilience across cultures (Ungar, 2006; Ungar et al., 2005). Hence, it is important to investigate how resilience is being defined and understand in different cultures; what are the challenges when conducting a cross cultural research; and what are the key elements when implementing intervention in different cultures.

There are numerous points of view on resiliency, as non‑governmental associations (NGOs) perceive that individuals ' capacity to better withstand and recuperate from calamities is basic to maintaining improvement. NGOs, contributors and worldwide reaction groups are attempting to characterize resiliency in their terms. CRS characterizes resiliency as "the capacity of people, communities and institutions to advance integral human development in the face of shocks, cycles and trends" (2014, p.2). The vulnerable individuals themselves best characterize strength and resiliency. What vulnerable individuals accept helps most to their versatility limit is discriminating to current dialogs on resiliency. Contributors and NGOs may have their own meaning of the term; however, an understanding of what it really means to individuals looking to make their community resilient is crucial to outlining successful Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and recovery activities in development, risk reaction and catastrophe recuperation programs (CRS, 2014). The danger of not utilizing the

What does it really mean to be resilient? Resilience has been defined in many different contexts and has many different interpretations, but in this case, resilience is “ the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance and reorganize so as to retain essentially the same function, structure, and feedbacks [identity]” (Walker and Salt, 2012). That being said, resilience theory focuses on the social-ecological interactions of a system, keeping in mind that systems are self-organizing and complex, and can either adapt or transform depending on the magnitude of perturbations. Having a system that is resilient does not necessarily mean that it is a good thing and unfavorable system states can be resilient (Walker and Salt, 2012). A distinction between sustainability and resilience should be made in order to understand the resilience approach. Sustainability refers to a system that is essentially in dynamic equilibrium where the system states can be maintained, and resilience recognizes that systems are changing nonlinearly and that shifts in system states may occur (Benson and Craig, 2014). In a world where humans are completely altering the environmental system, which ultimately affects every aspect of the social system, the resilience approach seems necessary.

The main objective of this book is to educate us on how we can make our cities more resilient to this ever growing threat. The book starts by giving us(the readers) a vision for a resilient city, but what the authors were really trying to convey is that they are trying to reduce oil dependency, which will save this resource. They say reduction of oil dependency is a necessity, they state that it will reduce impacts on the environment, and will reduce impact on human health which will lead to reduced impacts on human health and will lead to greater economic gain because they will depend on other sources of income rather than just oil. This will make the cities more economically stable because they can get their money elsewhere if the cities would stop depending on oil to bring in the cash flow.

Resilience is a term that is often applied to those who have faced hardship and viewed the experience in a positive light as an opportunity to grow and change for the better (Wagnild & Collins, 2009). The definition however seems to vary from place to place. Ungar et al. (2008) stated “definitions of resilience are ambiguous when viewed across cultures" (p.174) which is why the understanding of resilience may be difficult to capture (as cited in Windle, Bennett & Noyes, 2011). Although the literature agrees on several common themes about resilience there are many varying opinions on how to define the concept or the attributing factors. Earvolino-Ramirez (2007) and

In starting my Independent Study on resilience, I have decided to break down my research into three phases; staring with gathering and reading information on the topic. I wanted to begin with a few articles that could provide a brief overview on the subject.

vulnerability. Actually, there are some who think that the potential for a similar disaster in the future

In terms of ranking a city’s resiliency, in many cases, the city of Phoenix, Arizona may be ranked by many as one of the least resilient regions in the country. This desert metropolis, currently home to just under four and a half million people, is relatively young by city standards. Only growing to its size within the last decade or two, this region is new to urban lifestyles, and its growth patterns reflect the suburban housing boom that has gripped the nation in the past few decades. As ranked by the Resilience Capacity Index, Phoenix ranks 233rd among all U.S. metropolitan regions in terms of its resiliency, with a score of -0.16 ("Resilience Capacity Index"). Phoenix is an interesting topic when discussing

With the exposure to the global and local climate change issues, I have analyzed the challenges of climate change in different sectors and the importance of adaptation to develop a resilient community. The research study has been proposed by me based on experienced related to climate change and disaster management. For this I incorporated the knowledge and skills I have gained from various countries by being participated in academic and training programmes for last 14 years. This will help me to continue and gain a recognized research output in my proposed research

It is also very evident through literature that resilience is a process and not an outcome. A community must take steps in order to build and ensure their resilience in the event of a disaster. Throughout all of the research it is also evident that the eight levers found in the review by Chandra et al. all the tools that set the framework for a community’s

An important part of being able to rebuild after a natural disaster, according to Daniel Aldrich, is to build social capital (Building Resilience 2). Throughout Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post-Disaster Recovery, Aldrich uses examples from both Hurricane Katrina and the 1923 Tokyo Earthquake to show how effective strong societal bonds can be in repopulating cities that have suffered large natural disasters. A clear example, Aldrich articulates, is the difference between rebuilding efforts in the Village de L’Est and the Lower Ninth Ward. Originally these areas had roughly the same levels of poverty but Village de L’Est rebuilt a majority of the area while the Lower Ninth Ward is still mostly deserted (Building Resilience 1). The strong bonds that existed between the Village de L’Est residents allowed them to become more committed to reestablishing their community. For many of the areas in both conflicts, the reliance on societal bonds prompts an understanding that allows all members of the community to feel tied to the area and keeps the desire to rebuild

Joseph A. & Temis G. 2013 'Complexity, problem-solving, sustainability and resilience', Resilience in the built environment, pp.168-181.

A sustainable city is when harmony is reached between the environment, economy and society. Environmentally, sustainable cities are ecologically friendly by using alternative sources of energy such as solar or wind power. Economically, governments should share a similar decision-making process with institutions and with the public by having a common belief in what should be done by improving sustainability. Sorensen, Marcotullio, and Grant (2004), find that a good decision making process consists of planning and control at the municipal and national political levels which would allow local level functions to become reinforced. Socially, sustainable cities are classless, meaning that there are no social divisions which serve as limits; leading to a more equal society. One of the many ideas would be using mixed housing to remove the class divisions between people. Also, city streets would be walkable, with businesses and services located at close proximity to promote a healthier lifestyle and serve as an alternative to using cars for transportation. The writers differ in their analysis when examining the approaches to improving sustainability in cities. This section will analyze four important ideas on how cities can become more sustainable.

In this paper I will discuss and explain anatomy of a crime decline in New York City as well as if in these days can we say that the city is safe. Purpose of this book " The City That Become Safe " written by Franklin E. Zimring is to show us how crime rate changed during 1990 to 2009. According to author this book presents a detailed profile of New York City crime over 20 years period. Book provides the vital statistics of the crime drop by type of crime, by borough, and by year. There are two reasons that such exhaustive detail is required as a beginning to the study. First, the size and the length of the drop are without precedent in the recorded history of American urban crime. The second reason that the details of the crime decline are needed is as a road map for explaining what changes in the city and its government might have caused this epic decline. The more we know about the specific character of the decline- when it happened, where it happened, which offenses- the better our capacity for sorting through different theories of what caused the drop. In addition, shifts the focus from the two decades of the decline to an assessment of current conditions in the city. How safe is New York City?.

The increasing amount of green house gases (GHG) released in the atmosphere is causing significant changes in the environment leading to unpredictable weather patterns and warming of the climate system is putting a great pressure on city development and infrastructures. This essay outlines three problems caused by climate change in urban areas, and evaluates the effectiveness of some of the mitigation and adaptation strategies. This essay reasons that mitigation and adaptation strategies need to work in synergy in order to address the situation effectively.