How to Assess Urban Food Resilience? Moving Towards Food Security in Chilean Cities

Background. Food resilience is the ability of the food system to adapt to external and internal disturbances and maintain the outcome of food security. This paper focuses on shaping the concept of urban food resilience regarding the operation of urban food infrastructure and its capacity to provide food security. Methods. To achieve this, a methodology based on the pillars defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for food security, i.e., availability, accessibility, and stability, is used, operationalized from a spatial approach, and evaluated in terms of urban food resilience. Three simple indexes are built, i.e., diversity, redundancy, and short-term stability, and combined into a composite index: the Urban Food Resilience Index (UFRI). Results. The results are analysed from a spatial and quantitative perspective, linking scores with urban surface area, population, and density. The study examines the reality of Chilean intermediate cities distributed throughout the country, using the La Serena–Coquimbo Conurbation as a case study. Conclusions. The ultimate goal is to provide a straightforward methodology for assessing urban food resilience in countries with limited data access, thereby providing a foundation for informed urban planning decision-making.