ABSTRACT
In light of global challenges and the associated intensification of urban processes, increasing emphasis is being placed on resilience to change as well as mitigation and adaptation capabilities. This implies the need to create a new governance framework for urban development in an uncertain, changeable, and difficult-to-predict environment. One such paradigm is urban resilience, which emphasises the need for a flexible and holistic approach to governance with the goal of improving the urban systems’ ability to respond to emerging risks swiftly and effectively.
The main objective of this chapter is to discuss the origins and theoretical assumptions underlying the concept of urban resilience. The author reviews the developmental problems confronting contemporary cities, which are said to motivate the search for new governance models. She also demonstrates how the concept in question is evolving in response to current economic, social, or environmental changes. The chapter concludes with an attempt to answer the question of whether implementing urban resilience may lead to sustainable development, which has a number of public policy implications.
