Building Resilient Cities - Addressing Immediate Shocks and Long-Term Stresses with the UNDRR Scorecard

Beyond Immediate Disasters: Using the UNDRR Scorecard to Address Chronic Stresses for Lasting Resilience

In recent years, cities around the world have faced growing threats from climate events, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and socio-economic stresses. Traditional disaster planning often focuses on acute events—floods, earthquakes, or fires—but true resilience requires thinking beyond isolated shocks. The UNDRR Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities introduces an innovative approach, encouraging cities to consider both acute shocks and chronic stresses as part of a broader resilience strategy.

Why Chronic Stresses Matter

Acute disasters like hurricanes or wildfires make headlines, but chronic stresses can be just as damaging over time. These stresses, such as water scarcity, economic instability, and aging infrastructure, weaken a city's ability to respond effectively to sudden shocks. If left unaddressed, chronic issues can amplify the impact of disasters and undermine recovery efforts, making resilience-building an uphill battle.

The Scorecard’s design, based on the Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient, integrates both types of threats, helping cities approach resilience as an ongoing journey rather than a reaction to specific crises.

Balancing Shock and Stress Responses in Resilience Planning

The Scorecard is divided into sections that align with the Ten Essentials, and within these, several specific areas address both short-term and long-term resilience needs:

1. Risk Scenarios and Strategic Planning (Essential 2):

• The Scorecard prompts cities to develop risk scenarios that cover both “most probable” and “most severe” events. For example, a city might consider not only the likelihood of a major flood but also how long-term urbanization or deforestation could amplify this risk over time.
• By examining how risks might evolve, cities can adopt policies that preemptively address chronic stressors. For instance, addressing deforestation now could mitigate future flash flooding, while urban planning can prevent the clustering of vulnerable populations in high-risk areas.

2. Financial Capacity for Resilience (Essential 3):

• Financial resilience goes beyond funding disaster response; it includes allocating resources to manage chronic stresses, such as poverty or outdated infrastructure, that might make recovery slower and less effective.
• The Scorecard encourages cities to create "ring-fenced" funds dedicated to resilience, supporting ongoing improvements that keep infrastructure updated, provide social support, and protect natural resources. This means cities don’t just repair after disasters but continuously strengthen their underlying structures.

3. Resilient Urban Development and Design (Essential 4):

• Effective urban planning is crucial for addressing chronic stresses, as it guides how cities grow and how communities can adapt to changing environments. By assessing land use, density, and building standards, cities can preemptively reduce risks from both chronic and acute events.
• The Scorecard recommends using nature-based solutions, like green spaces and water-absorbing landscapes, which offer dual benefits: reducing urban heat and air pollution while serving as buffers against flooding or landslides.

4. Engagement and Collaboration (Essential 7):

• Resilience depends on cohesive societal structures. Social challenges, such as economic inequality and health disparities, weaken community resilience to disasters. The Scorecard advocates for collaboration across government agencies, private sectors, and local communities, fostering strong networks that support each other during crises.
• For instance, community-led planning and inclusive workshops can bring to light the unique challenges different neighborhoods face, such as lack of accessible healthcare or job insecurity. This inclusive approach helps cities create resilience plans that reflect the diverse needs of their population.

5. Building Back Better (Essential 10):

• After a disaster, rebuilding offers an opportunity to address vulnerabilities exposed by both the shock and ongoing stresses. The Scorecard’s “Build Back Better” principle encourages cities to improve infrastructure, redesign spaces, and strengthen community networks as part of recovery.
• For instance, cities recovering from floods might consider elevating roads, enhancing drainage, and ensuring affordable housing standards are resilient to climate impacts. These improvements help reduce the risk of future floods while improving quality of life for residents year-round.

Real-World Applications: Case Studies of Dual Resilience

Several cities have successfully applied the Scorecard’s principles to address both immediate and long-term resilience. For example:

• Manchester, UK: This city has increasingly used green infrastructure projects, such as wetlands, to address frequent flooding and provide ecological benefits. This aligns with Essential 5 of the UNDRR framework, which emphasizes Safeguarding Natural Buffers and enhancing green-blue infrastructure, like wetlands, for flood mitigation and community green spaces.
• Makati, Philippines: Known for its vulnerability to typhoons, Makati has actively involved local communities through public awareness campaigns and resilience planning. Essential 7 and Essential 6 in the UNDRR scorecard highlight the importance of Strengthening Societal Capacity and Community Engagement through education and awareness, key aspects of Makati’s resilience approach.

Practical Takeaways: Using the Scorecard to Build Sustainable, Resilient Cities

The UNDRR Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities provides cities with a comprehensive roadmap to address both sudden and long-term resilience needs. Here’s how cities can put these insights into action:

1. Integrate Chronic Stress Monitoring into Risk Assessments: Begin by identifying chronic challenges—such as traffic congestion, resource depletion, or social inequities—that weaken the city’s resilience to disasters. Integrate these findings into risk scenarios to ensure that resilience planning addresses both immediate and ongoing threats.
2. Allocate Dedicated Funding for Long-Term Resilience: Establish resilience funds that go beyond disaster relief to cover chronic infrastructure improvements, resource management, and social support initiatives. This will help the city continuously improve, rather than merely reacting to disasters.
3. Engage the Community in Holistic Planning: Bring together residents, businesses, and local agencies in resilience planning efforts. Encourage residents to voice the challenges they face in everyday life. This dialogue not only prepares communities for crises but builds social cohesion, which is essential for long-term resilience.
4. Implement Nature-Based Solutions: Design urban spaces that not only protect against natural disasters but also address chronic environmental issues. For instance, green roofs, permeable pavements, and urban forests help reduce pollution, heat, and flooding, contributing to a healthier and more resilient city.
5. Measure, Improve, Repeat: Resilience is not a one-time effort. Regularly revisit resilience plans, using the Scorecard as a baseline, and adjust for new risks, population shifts, and environmental changes. This cyclical process ensures that cities remain adaptive, prepared, and forward-thinking.

The UNDRR Scorecard’s holistic approach to resilience goes beyond emergency preparedness. It equips cities to thrive amid change, combining response planning with proactive, ongoing resilience measures.

By focusing on both immediate shocks and chronic stresses, cities can create environments where residents are safe, connected, and able to adapt to whatever challenges come their way.

This balance is important, not only for resilient city planning—a blend of preparedness for today and adaptability for tomorrow.

Have a great Sunday! Marco

Join my Substack for regular insights on resilience, delivered straight to your inbox!

https://marcoresilienceengineers.substack.com/

P.S. We are currently conducting a benchmark study on Operational Resilience Maturity Models.

We’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to complete our survey

(it takes less than 5 minutes).

https://form.jotform.com/243174089252054

Thanks!