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Comparing Conceptualizations of Urban Climate Resilience in Theory and Practice

Author

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  • Sara Meerow

    (School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA)

  • Melissa Stults

    (School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
    Urban and Regional Planning, Unviersity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
    The Climate Resilience Fund, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA)

Abstract

In the face of climate change, scholars and policymakers are increasingly concerned with fostering “urban resilience”. This paper seeks to contribute towards a better understanding of synergies and differences in how academics and local decision-makers think about resilience in the context of climate change. We compare definitions and characteristics of urban climate resilience in the academic literature with a survey of 134 local government representatives from across the U.S. Our analysis shows discrepancies in how academics and practitioners define and characterize urban climate resilience, most notably in their focus on either “bouncing back” or “bouncing forward” after a disturbance. Practitioners have diverse understandings of the concept, but tend to favor potentially problematic “bouncing back” or engineering-based definitions of resilience. While local government respondents confirm the importance of all 16 resilience characteristics we identified in the academic literature, coding practitioners’ free response definitions reveals that they rarely mention qualities commonly associated with resilience in the scholarly literature such as diversity, flexibility, and redundancy. These inconsistencies need to be resolved to ensure both the usability of climate resilience research and the effectiveness of resilience policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Meerow & Melissa Stults, 2016. "Comparing Conceptualizations of Urban Climate Resilience in Theory and Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:7:p:701-:d:74495
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nordgren, John & Stults, Missy & Meerow, Sara, 2016. "Supporting local climate change adaptation: Where we are and where we need to go," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 344-352.
    2. Jon Coaffee, 2013. "Towards Next-Generation Urban Resilience in Planning Practice: From Securitization to Integrated Place Making," Planning Practice & Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 323-339, June.
    3. Pearson, Amber L. & Pearce, Jamie & Kingham, Simon, 2013. "Deprived yet healthy: Neighbourhood-level resilience in New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 238-245.
    4. Sara Meerow & Joshua P. Newell, 2015. "Resilience and Complexity: A Bibliometric Review and Prospects for Industrial Ecology," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(2), pages 236-251, April.
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