The course will introduce students to current debates on urban resilience theory and practice, as well as its intersections with urban sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and disaster risk reduction.

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Prof.ssa Sara Meerow - School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University On the one hand, urban areas are vibrant hubs of innovation, culture, and economic productivity, accounting for 80% of global GDP. On the other hand, cities are responsible for more than 70% of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions and they struggle with a range of shocks and stresses. The sustainability paradigm dominated urban policy and practice for the last two decades, but in recent years resilience has become a major focus for cities. A growing number of communities are developing resilience plans and even hiring Chief Resilience Officers in addition to, or in place of, sustainability plans. In essence, urban resilience is about the ability of communities to cope with disruptions and change, but definitions and models for urban resilience are highly contested. What does this concept mean in theory and practice? What is the relationship between sustainability and resilience? How can we operationalize these fuzzy concepts? And how would we recognize whether or not a city is sustainable or resilient? This course will introduce students to current debates on urban resilience theory and practice, as well as its intersections with urban sustainability, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. We will also discuss how resilience concepts are applied in specific urban domains including the built environment, transportation and mobility, social justice, public health and safety, green infrastructure and urban agriculture, housing, community, and economic development, and governance. The course will draw on the latest research on these topics as well as practical examples from various cities. Expected Learning Outcomes 1. Summarize the historical evolution of the concept of urban resilience across fields. 2. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different practical approaches to planning for resilience (including land use planning, climate change mitigation and adaptation planning, disaster risk reduction/hazard mitigation planning, and urban resilience planning). 3. List some of the biggest opportunities and challenges for urban resilience across key urban sectors. 4. List some of the strategies for overcoming these challenges, including examples from innovative cities around the world. 5. Independently apply theories of urban resilience to a research topic of interest and synthesize that research in a short presentation. Assessment and grading criteria Students will be graded based on their class participation and four assessments: 1. Reading discussion leader: Students will each serve as discussion leader for one of the course readings. Students will be responsible for reading the material carefully, coming up with discussion questions, and taking a leadership role during the discussion. 2. Urban resilience current event: Students will also present a current event during one of the course meetings. They should find an interesting, recent, and short non-academic article related to that day’s topic. The field of resilience planning is evolving rapidly, we are in the midst of multiple crises, and it’s hard to stay current. This will help to ensure our discussions are timely and interesting. 3. Research paper: Students will write 2.500 word (10 pages double-spaced) research paper that reviews course readings and the broader academic literature to answer a theoretical question related to urban resilience. Papers should be structured like an academic journal article, with an abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, and references section. For some tips on writing a paper see: https://www.elsevier.com/connect/11-steps-to-structuring-a-science-paper-editors-will-take-seriously. As a first step students will submit a brief (one paragraph) abstract that outlines the topic they wish to research. This should at a minimum include the research question, some explanation for why this is an important or interesting topic. I will provide feedback on this abstract. 4. Paper presentation and discussion: In the final meeting of the course, students will briefly present their research papers for the group and we will discuss them.

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P.D.2-2 - Giugno