Issue 7: Resilience

“Resilience” is an increasingly common term in recent times. Do we really know what it means?

Judith Rodin, author of The Resilience Dividend, defines resilience as “the capacity of any entity – an individual, a community, an organisation, or a natural system – to prepare for disruptions, to recover from shocks and stresses, and to adapt and grow from a disruptive experience”. But beyond such a definition, what does resilience encompass in real terms? Should city officials prioritise it? How can urban planners mould resiliency into the built environment, and what role does the community play? These are some questions we hope to explore in this issue of URBAN SOLUTIONS.

In Essay, Dr Rodin explains the five characteristics of resilient systems and how cities can and should reap benefits from investing in their crisis-coping capacity. Christchurch is a stellar example of opportunities that can arise from a crisis, as illustrated in City Focus. In Case Study, PUB Chairman Tan Gee Paw illustrates the water resilience strategy of Singapore.

We also learn how Surat copes with floods, how Boston prepared itself against terrorist attacks, and how an NGO in Singapore rehabilitates radicalised individuals. We honour the community heroes who have stepped up in times of need in Illustration.

In Interview, Singapore Minister of National Development Khaw Boon Wan talks about the city state’s public housing and his experience handling the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) crisis. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio shares housing and education initiatives that aim to tackle the city’s economic and social inequality and his thoughts on the makeup of a resilient city. In Young Leader, former Deputy Mayor of Yokohama Yumiko Noda also lists some examples of the Japanese way of dealing with their various challenges.

Can deliberate design help to shape a resilient urban landscape? In Opinion, Professor Eric Klinenberg makes a convincing case for the importance of social infrastructure when disasters strike. CLC researcher Remy Guo complements this in Essay, where he knocks down the paradigm equating fences with defences, and cites examples of fenceless developments in Copenhagen and Singapore that enhance liveability.

What role does science and technology play then? An important one, according to Professor Alexander Zehnder in Opinion. Technology doesn’t always come with a hefty price tag though. Juliana Rotich, co-founder and Executive Director of Ushahidi, shows how open source software can be used to make sense of crowdsourced information in Young Leader.

This issue of URBAN SOLUTIONS cannot give a full picture of resilience, but I sincerely hope it contributes incrementally to our understanding of this important topic.

Khoo Teng Chye
Executive Director
Centre for Liveable Cities