Resilient cities need a multi-disciplinary approach

The density of assets and people in urban areas increases risk as there is a greater concentration of value. As the coronavirus pandemic has put into stark relief, overcrowding can also make cities highly vulnerable to health hazards. City dwellers have been disproportionately impacted by rapid transmission rates, a fragility that is only likely to be exacerbated in the future, given that some 70 percent of the world’s population – 6.8 billion out of a total of 9.8 billion – is expected to be concentrated in urban areas by 2050 .

With coronavirus, the world is dealing with two crises simultaneously. As the climate crisis mounts, natural disasters are exacting an increasingly heavy toll. In the two decades up to 2017, natural disasters killed 1.3 million people and affected another 4.4 billion people with direct costs amounting to nearly $3 trillion . A record $340 billion in natural disaster losses in 2017 points to what lies ahead. Expanding urbanization means the human and financial costs of freak weather incidents is likely to rise, and the impact will ripple far into interdependent global communities. That is unless we take bold action, both in terms of climate change and disaster resilience.

Resilience is likely to be a rising priority among the mobile people, firms, and resources that cities compete against each other for. To attract talent and investment, cities increasingly need to show that they can provide an attractive, healthy, safe and secure environment that is resilient to future shocks and stresses. In the future, resilience strategies should be embedded from the outset into major urban interventions such as strategic masterplans and large-scale infrastructure projects.

A holistic approach

At AECOM, we have a long experience in partnering with municipal and metropolitan governments to devise resilient development pathways. Our holistic approach draws on a diverse and global network of infrastructure engineers and planning specialists including sustainability and – increasingly important given recent events – public health experts. Take for instance our work developing the Istanbul 2050 Urban Transformation Master Plan. We put improving the resilience of this rapidly growing metropolis at the heart of the masterplan design. First, we mapped the city to identify the most risk-exposed areas in terms of natural hazards, as well as infrastructure and social vulnerabilities. Linking these areas with major regeneration opportunities will enable structural change in the urban form that increases resilience by allowing for a triple dividend of avoided disasters, enabled household and business investments, as well as positive economic, social, and environmental co-benefits.

Building on our track history as a global strategy partner to the 100 Resilient Cities program pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation, we are now supporting clients such as the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In their work with cities we are providing combined spatial and infrastructure expertise to improve the understanding of urban climate and disaster risks. This forms a foundation for co-developing infrastructure investment portfolios that actively contribute to cities’ resilience – not just from an asset perspective but also with regard to planning and management processes, development opportunities for citizens and the private sector, as well as in terms of improved quality of life for all.