What is a Resilient City?

IR Dr Anne Kerr, Managing Director, Greater China, Global Head Cities, Mott MacDonald

Gather together with two other people and ask what resilience means to them and it is highly likely there will several definitions given. Then for good measure add in the dimension of resilience in the city context and much broader and wider debates will ensue. At the strategic level resilient cities are better places to live, do business and invest in for the future.

Resilient cities are not only better able to withstand the increasing severity of climate shocks, but also non-climate risks, such as seismic, geo-political and other hazards. The consequences of storms, floods, heatwaves and other impacts are evidenced by degradation and destruction of buildings and infrastructure, failure of water, sanitation, energy, transport and communication services, which ultimately affect people’s lives and livelihoods. By focusing efforts on resilience, cities will be better prepared for the future, enabling citizens to work together in their communities for wider benefits to be realized.

So if this is the case, then how do we tactically embed resilience into cities and communities?

We firstly need to consider - what is the city?

The city is the people. Those who inhabit it, who work in it, who travel to visit and those who yearn to be there!

Using the definition that resilient cities are places which can absorb and recover from shocks and be well prepared for future shocks, it is important to note that the “shocks” will be experienced in local contexts in very different ways, and the responses will be locally adapted. Many cities are planning for and dealing with shocks today but the response should be to build back better and improve preparedness for future shocks, otherwise the opportunity to increase resilience is lost.

Over the last couple of years, however, we have seen similar types of responses to the lock downs and restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Many people who would hitherto have been spending weekends, and longer, in places far from their daily lives, were in some ways forced to reconnect with their local environs. Here in Hong Kong, many people renewed their connections with nature, as witnessed by the number of people using the country parks and hiking trails, the beaches, the waterways for kayaking and sailing among other outdoor activities.

It has long been known, and studies support, the view that spending time in nature boosts employee productivity and is good for students’ learning, while a view of outside helps patients in hospital to recover more quickly and require less medication. Studies also show that humans have an innate attraction to nature and will spend time there – and return repeatedly – if it is accessible and safe. This is why we want safe and resilient cities!

RESILIENCE – A COMPLEX ISSUE

Resilience is a finely balanced and complex interconnection of social, institutional, economic, health and environmental elements. How to recover may not be the same as preparing for future shocks, and there is no formula for increasing resilience across cities. So a city’s response to resilience in its many forms needs to be tailored to the specific requirements as well as budgetary priorities.

However setting principles for development and regeneration with resilience at the centre focuses attention of decision makers, and investors, and is demonstrably important as Governments local and central seek to reduce and meet decarbonization targets.

PURPOSEFUL PLANNING OF OUR ASSETS REAPS BENEFITS

As we are increasingly aware our services and asset systems are increasingly interconnected and interdependent. The current situation of disruptions to fuel and wheat supplies is having consequences from the price of consumables to the disruption in vast and complicated supply chains stretching around the world. Disruption in one sector can have diverse, far-reaching consequences as the failure cascades through others. In urban spaces, water, sanitation, energy, transport and communications are vulnerable and most at risk from such failures. More frequent, intense and enduring extreme weather events, such as flooding and heatwaves, will increase the risk and the level of failure. How we use land within our cities can affect resilience to physical climate risks such as flooding and heat island effects, and over recent years cities and towns have focused attention on becoming greener with emphasis on “green building designs”. But what about the use of the buildings or built environment to solve wider issues of say energy or water or food security? Thinking about food, we import more than >90% of food from outside of HK. Think of the energy used to pack, store, transport and distribute this produce? In Singapore there is a similar food security concern and ambition for decarbonisation, the target of 30% of food produced locally by 2030 has resulted in significant efforts to use buildings and other spaces/facilities for local food production creating new sources of revenue and employment opportunities as well as working towards resolving a food security concern. Setting targets and having defined outcomes will achieve more than relying on good intentions.

Adoption of regenerative and biophilic design seeks to create urban spaces and environments that blend perfectly with nature. Such designs go well beyond sustainability. With a focus on renewal, restoration and growth – the desired outcomes are to maximise positive ecological and community outcomes.

It is essential to be able to demonstrate and monetise the positive outcomes from regenerative projects, and demonstrating how they deliver value-for-money.

Such outcomes tie in with issues around water consumption, food supplies, energy consumption all of which form the trilemma of insecurity in todays’ world, cities and communities.

It is important we nurture a collaborative spirit when seeking to create more resilience in our communities. Collaborators include but are not limited to investors, designers, developers, ecologists, engineers and contractors who come together to deliver buildings and infrastructure that create thriving, biodiverse and vital ecosystems that co-exist with thriving communities. But most importantly collaboration is required with those people living, working, engaging with the communities.

NATURE BASED DESIGNS ARE GOOD FOR PEOPLE

In order to reconnect people and nature we need to do more than plant some shrubs or the odd green wall. Deliberately rewilding urban areas, even the smallest, leftover spaces and on and inside buildings, will create habitats that will increase biodiversity, regenerate native species, and provide thriving places for communities. Examples include the recovery of carparks, as pop up gardens and places to pause and reflect. Vegetation including plant food production should be diverse and selected for its ability to sequester carbon, provide natural cooling and purify the air. This will positively tackle climate change, improve health and may even provide food!

Designs should draw on nature. Nature knows how to manage flooding, for example, and nature-based solutions are often cheaper, easier to maintain and more adaptable than many of our conventionally engineered systems. Pak Mong Lake which is located adjacent to the North Lantau Expressway, is an excellent example of such an approach – rather than having huge concrete culverts diverting rainfall from the hillsides of North Lantau the decision was made to retain the embayment and to create “sea-bridges” under the highway. This allows stormwater runoff to flow into the embayment at Siu Ho Wan and the seawater from Siu Ho Wan to flow under and into the lake. This mixing of fresh and saline waters in the lake which was created, provides an enhanced brackish environment which over time become significant in terms of biodiversity and ecological resources.

Many species which would have been eliminated, instead have thrived. A win over simply using concrete. This is only one example of green, blue and living infrastructure in Hong Kong, which can complement or replace grey infrastructure to increase resilience.

Much has been done over the last 3 decades in Hong Kong with the regeneration of Kai Tak and other nullahs and waterways (at Ngong Ping for example as part of the cable car arrivals area), but more opportunities exist – and must be exploited if we are to achieve resilience within the city and especially in the new development areas.

NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS FOR RESILIENCE RELY ON “SYSTEMS THINKING”

Recognising regenerative practices require a systems orientation, we create places and communities that maintain a balance between different environments, and which over time evolve to improve their health and vitality.

Like natural ecosystems, buildings need to adapt through their life to changing social needs and circumstances. This has been evidenced in the relationship many are now having with their workplace, and in an increasingly agile working from anywhere environment the functions of many buildings need to adapt to survive.

Systems thinking will ensure that multiple long-term benefits are factored into the design and development process to maximise the positive outcomes – in terms of health, jobs, nature etc – from the start and investment decisions are not based solely on capital cost or short-term payback. Returning to the COVID-19 outbreak, this is a stark reminder that society is vulnerable to infectious diseases and as we further encroach on nature similar zoonotic diseases are more likely to emerge.

We need to understand that if we damage nature, we harm ourselves. Likewise, if we pursue regenerative development and restore and replenish our natural systems, people, communities and society will share in the benefits – and thrive too.

PRACTICAL ACTION IS URGENTLY NEEDED

1. Owners and operators must look beyond individual assets to understand the extent and complexity of the dependency chains, assessing their vulnerability to climate change and other kinds of shocks and stresses.

2. These interconnections should be identified and, if they cannot be eliminated, a management plan developed or a redundancy plan built into the system to limit the extent of cascade failure.

3. Integrate climate resilience planning with master planning and long-term strategic infrastructure and investment plans to protect against acute events that are already occurring, and prepare for the added impact of both chronic and acute events in the future.

4. Avoid poorly planned infrastructure that could exacerbate climate change or that in mitigating one risk becomes more vulnerable to another.

5. Climate scenarios and risk assessments need to be translated into practical, meaningful action plans and used to make the business case for investing in resilience.

6. Implementing these plans may appear costly, especially when they involve ageing and densely situated assets, but the cost of not having adequate resilience measures in place is far greater.

THE RESILIENCE DIVIDEND

Whether its increased food production locally or resilience of the cities systems assets there is a clear business case for investment in climate resilience as the asset base continues to grow and as climate impacts increase in severity and frequency.

- Resilient cities minimise losses and reduce the future liability risks of assets. There is a dividend in terms of direct and indirect financial returns from investing in resilience, whether that is through improved flood defences or better emergency planning.

- A city that survives shocks and achieves continuity of, or quickly restores, essential services will be more competitive than rival cities. It will attract greater investment because it will demonstrate that it has the strength and systems to withstand climate change and other hazards. A holistic approach will deliver maximum benefits.

As costs associated with climate events continues to rise, and concern increases about levels of debt incurred as a result of COVID-19 responses, the estimated global cost of resilience which was hitherto estimated to be in the order of US$1 trillion per annum within two to three decades unless there is a major and concerted increase in resilience spending.

- Asset owners and operators, service providers and communities can’t afford not to invest in improving resilience and require solutions that are cost-effective and sustainable.

- There is an urgent need to address the shortfalls in resilience funding that occur locally to globally, and initiate projects that respond to increasingly severe climate impacts.

- Increasing co-operation across the public and private sectors and innovative financial mechanisms need to be developed to unlock the investment needed.

- Changes in the mindset and fostering a culture change in terms of resilience spend requires a raised awareness. This implies new relationships need to be established, and priorities set.

- It is no longer sufficient to look at assets in isolation and it is essential to take a holistic approach to asset design and funding.

- Resilience needs to be incorporated into all aspects of urban planning, urban development, urban operation, and urban life.

Cities need innovative, affordable ways to design new infrastructure or upgrade existing assets to withstand social, economic or climatic shocks.

But cities also need to be engaging at all levels with the citizens and stakeholders throughout the development of projects, and in the creation of spaces and developments in the community to enhance resilience of people and places. There is work to do!

About Mott MacDonald

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