Digital Platforms and Routine–Emergency Compatibility: Evidence from Shanghai

Urban resilience research increasingly recognizes that emergency response cannot be separated from routine urban governance. However, less is known about how digital platforms institutionalize this connection in everyday urban operations. This study develops the concept of routine–emergency compatibility to explain how routine governance and emergency management remain connected. Drawing on a qualitative case study of District A in Shanghai, this study uses field observations, policy and platform materials, and semi-structured interviews to examine how a district-level digital platform supports this model. The findings show that the platform enables routine–emergency compatibility through three interrelated dimensions: spatial congruence between physical and digital governance spaces, resource elasticity across routine and emergency scenarios, and actor integration through coordination among government departments, social actors, and the public. These dimensions operate through a closed loop of identification and warning, linkage and dispatch, and feedback and learning. The study contributes to urban resilience and digital governance by clarifying how digital platforms support this connection. It also highlights the importance of risk visibility, resource readiness, and cross-level coordination in platform-enabled emergency governance.