Resilient urban design: The art and science of transforming cities

In recent years, the popularity of “urban resilience” and “resilient cities” has surged in both academic research and policy development, especially with respect to urbanization and climate change. However, the origins and meaning of these terms are ambiguous and vague, with numerous explanations for this dramatic rise. As an urbanist, I am writing this position paper to propose a definition of “resilient urban design”—an emerging discipline and profession—grounded in urban design discourse while remaining adaptable across disciplines and practitioners.

Resilience

The term “resilience” originates from Latin, later passing through Middle French before entering the English language. Prior to the 20th Century, its core meaning was “to bounce back,” a concept that has been widely applied across various academic disciplines, including physics, engineering, ecology, geography, and psychology.

In 1973, Holling expanded the concept by challenging the prevailing notion that resilience should be understood solely as an ecosystem’s ability to return to a pre-disturbance state. Instead, he introduced a broader framework under the unifying term “resilience,” distinguishing three key stability properties: recovery (the ability to return to a pre-disturbance state), resistance (the capacity to buffer the impact of a disturbance), and persistence (the ability to maintain identity and function over time despite external pressures).

More recently, an alternative perspective has emerged, shifting from the concept of “bouncing back” to the metaphor of “bouncing forward,” which is considered more appropriate as it recognizes the long-term societal adaptation processes that shape resilience beyond mere recovery. In 2002, Gunderson and Holling introduced the Panarchy framework, which emphasizes the dynamic cyclical nature of systems as they move through phases of growth, collapse, reorganization, and renewal. Rather than simply “bouncing forward” to a previous state, Panarchy highlights how disturbances can trigger adaptive transformations. This process is shaped by two key connections: Revolt, where small, fast-moving events catalyze significant changes in the larger system, and Remember, where larger, stable systems provide institutional memory and stability, helping smaller systems reorganize without descending into complete disorder. 

While resilience was initially a concept rooted in academic discourse, it has increasingly been incorporated into policy frameworks in recent years to enhance the resilience of nations, regions, cities, communities, and infrastructure. Organizations such as the UN-HABITAT and the Rockefeller Foundation have launched initiatives aimed at promoting urban resilience. These efforts seek to translate the concept of resilience into actionable policies and integrate it into urban development and disaster risk management. 

Mitigation and adaptation are two fundamental strategies within resilience planning. Mitigation focuses on reducing or preventing the causes of climate change, such as lowering greenhouse gas emissions, implementing energy-efficient infrastructure, and designing compact, transit-oriented cities. In contrast, adaptation involves adjusting urban systems, infrastructure, and communities to withstand and respond to existing and anticipated challenges, such as rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and resource scarcity. While mitigation tackles the root causes of environmental risks, adaptation ensures that urban areas remain livable and functional despite ongoing and future changes. 

Urban design

With rapid urban growth and suburban expansion, American cities have reached a stage where they must address complex responsibilities that earlier boom towns never faced. Urban design gained formal recognition in 1956 during the Harvard Urban Design Conference, hosted by José Luis Sert at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Developed in response to the limitations of conventional urban planning, which was often rigid and narrowly focused on zoning and policy, urban design emerged as a discipline aimed at shaping the physical form of cities in a more holistic and integrated manner. As Sert stated, “Urban design is that part of city planning which deals with the physical form of the city.” 

Often regarded as the most creative component of urban planning, urban design plays a crucial role in integrating efforts across disciplines such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, and engineering. It extends beyond the mere physical form of cities, addressing their social, economic, and environmental functions. Over time, influential voices have helped shape the principles of urban design and enhance the quality of urban life. Visionary figures such as Kevin Lynch, Jane Jacobs, Aldo Rossi, Christopher Alexander, Denise Scott Brown, Robert Venturi, Leon Krier, Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Calthorpe, and William Whyte have made significant contributions, each bringing unique perspectives that continue to inform contemporary urban design practices. 

A tale of two places: Lessons from my experience

Bridging the divide in St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri, is shaped by history, geography, and policy, but one of its most defining and persistent challenges is its deep North-South divide. Running along the central corridor, this division reflects decades of racial segregation, economic inequality, and uneven development, creating two vastly different realities in the same city. This growing inequality, particularly for communities of color, remains one of the greatest resilience challenges facing the city today. 

It was within this reality that I had the opportunity to work with the KingsVille community, a neighborhood in North St. Louis where the scars of disinvestment run deep. Here, vacant buildings and empty lots make up nearly 45 percent of the area, while residents remain deeply connected to their community. Through my collaboration with the St. Louis Association of Community Organization, Hickey Elementary School (a key neighborhood anchor), and local residents, we set out to envision a more resilient and connected future for KingsVille. 

When we first engaged with residents, we heard a resounding message: “We like our neighbors. We like the character of where we live.” In a neighborhood struggling with vacancy and disrepair, this was a powerful reminder that resilience is not just about constructing new green buildings—especially since buildings today are already far more energy-efficient than those built a century ago. Rather, resilience is about people and their sense of community. With this in mind, the design solutions focused on creating a network of multi-scale public spaces, ranging from a solar farm to a sensory garden, while revitalizing the main street through complete streets and façade restorations that preserve the area’s historical character. Together, these interventions aim not only to promote environmental justice but also to create more livable places—where resilience is measured not just by lower emissions, but by social cohesion. 

West Tennessee: A community at the crossroads

For generations, West Tennessee’s identity has been rooted in its rural charm—a landscape of small towns, vast open fields, and quiet country roads. But change is coming, fast and undeniable. At the center of this transformation is BlueOval City, a $5.6 billion investment in electric vehicle manufacturing, bringing the promise of economic prosperity, job creation, and new waves of development. 

For Tipton County and its neighboring communities, this shift is both thrilling and overwhelming. Thousands of jobs are on the horizon, and with them, a surge of new residents, businesses, and infrastructure demands. What was once a slow, predictable pattern of growth is now a race to prepare for the unprecedented scale of change. And so, local leaders are not just planning for the future—they are redefining it. I had the privilege of working with Tipton County and the City of Covington, the county seat, on updating their Future Land Use Plan. But this was not a routine planning exercise. It was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure that growth is resilient and truly beneficial to all residents—not just a reaction to outside investment but a community-led vision for the future. 

As we engaged with residents, one thing became clear: people weren’t just concerned about growth—they cared about how it would shape their everyday lives. “We want variety and choice—housing, retail, restaurants, parks, and open spaces,” some said. Others insisted, “We want to preserve our story.” These voices carried weight, revealing a delicate balance between embracing change and holding onto what makes the region special. A community survey added further insights, a third of residents wanted to live where daily destinations are within a 15-minute walk, a third preferred rural living, where owning a car was essential, a third were open to either lifestyle, depending on affordability and convenience. 

With this in mind, we introduced a place-based land use palette—a planning strategy that embraces mixed-use development, thoughtful density, and a variety of urban and rural experiences. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all zoning model, this approach allows for a spectrum of development styles, from small-town charm to preserved farmlands, catering to the different lifestyles that residents value. While density is often viewed as a tool for mitigation in resilient design, success does not depend on achieving high density alone. Instead, the focus is on providing a variety of densities that align with community desires, creating environments that are both livable and likable. 

Resilient urban design

As urbanists, we care about cities because we care about people and the environments they inhabit. For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population resides in urban areas, where individuals interact, form communities, and shape their daily lives. Beyond an emotional connection, cities are at the forefront of addressing critical social, economic, and environmental challenges. 

The vulnerabilities of urban environments have been amplified by unforeseen and devastating events, underscoring the critical role of urban design in fostering resilience. Events such as the September 11 attacks and their lasting psychological effects, Hurricane Katrina’s widespread destruction in New Orleans, and the socio-political unrest in Ferguson have demonstrated the extent to which crises disrupt urban life. These incidents highlight the need for urban design strategies that not only mitigate the consequences of such disruptions but also strengthen social cohesion and community resilience. 

Today, in response to contemporary challenges, we have the coastal engineering and construction technology to build massive seawalls against tidal waves, the expertise in renewable energy and sustainable materials to power cities, and the scientific advancements to accelerate vaccine development for emerging viruses. However, resilience cannot be achieved through technological innovation alone. 

A city may be physically fortified, but if it is socially disconnected, it cannot be considered a success. For instance, evacuating residents from flood-prone areas to higher ground often results in the loss of long-standing social networks, disrupting community ties, and weakening bottom-up support systems. Conversely, keeping residents in place while relying solely on increased flood insurance places a disproportionate financial burden on vulnerable populations, making long-term stability unsustainable. Therefore, resilient urban design is the art and science of transforming the built environment, strategically designing cities to adapt to the wicked challenges of the 21st Century while enriching civic life.

This definition establishes a critical foundation for resilient urban design, particularly for vulnerable communities that have long struggled with systemic inequalities, such as unfair land-use policies and limited access to resources. Expecting communities that have faced poverty, displacement, and environmental injustices to simply “be resilient” overlooks the deeper structural factors that have placed them at risk in the first place. Resilience should never be seen as a buzzword; it is a meaningful solution. Only resilient urban design can ensure a proactive urbanism that promotes vitality, equity, and long-term sustainability.