A review of urban resilience frameworks: Transferring knowledge to enhance pandemic resilience

Abstract

Urbanization is rapidly increasing, with urban populations expected to grow significantly by 2050, particularly in developing regions. This expansion brings challenges related to chronic stresses and acute shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which has underscored the critical role of urban form in a city’s capacity to manage public health crises. Researchers are examining how built form, density, and neighborhood structure shape pandemic outcomes. This work adds to the literature and, rather than offering another empirical case study or city-specific design checklist, it bridges the general resilience/morphometrics frameworks with pandemic-specific discussions. We seek to transfer the knowledge of prevalent resilience theories into the context of a pandemic to better understand the relationship between pandemic resilience and urban morphology. In this work, we emphasized the connection between theoretical ideas with quantitative frameworks, offering a cohesive analysis that traces how concepts such system assets, attributes, and performances can be operationalized through morphometric indicators. We synthesize general urban resilience frameworks and morphometric approaches to explicitly map how their concepts and indicators can be adapted to the assessment of pandemic resilience while engaging with the emerging literature on pandemic urbanism and extended urbanization. Our goal is not only to enhance the understanding of urban resilience but also to offer a multi-scalar conceptual map for future empirical work.

Keywords

urban resilience / urban form / pandemic resilience / COVID-19 / urban planning / analysis frameworks

References

[1] United Nations Environment Programme (2021) Global status report for buildings and construction: Towards a zero-emission, efficient and resilient buildings and construction sector.

[2] Giles-Corti B, Foster S, Lynch B, et al. (2023) What are the lessons from COVID-19 for creating healthy, sustainable, resilient future cities. npj Urban Sustain 3: 29. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-023-00107-y

[3] Sharifi A, Yamagata Y (2018) Resilient urban form: A conceptual framework, In: Resilience-Oriented Urban Planning: Theoretical and Empirical Insights , Cham: Springer International Publishing, 167-179. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75798-8_9

[4] Sharifi A, Khavarian-Garmsir AR (2020) The COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on cities and major lessons for urban planning, design, and management. Sci Total Environ 749: 142391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142391

[5] Lak A, Asl SS, Maher A (2020) Resilient urban form to pandemics: Lessons from COVID-19. Med J Islam Repub Iran 34: 71. https://doi.org/10.34171/mjiri.34.71

[6] AbouKorin SAA, Han H, Mahran MGN (2021) Role of urban planning characteristics in forming pandemic resilient cities-Case study of Covid-19 impacts on European cities within England, Germany and Italy. Cities 118: 103324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2021.103324

[7] Mouratidis K (2021) How COVID-19 reshaped quality of life in cities: A synthesis and implications for urban planning. Land Use Policy 111: 105772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105772

[8] Venerandi A, Aiello LM, Porta S (2023) Urban form and COVID-19 cases and deaths in Greater London: An urban morphometric approach. Environ Plann B: Urban Anal City Sci 50: 1228-1243. https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083221133397

[9] Meerow S, Newell JP, Stults M (2016) Defining urban resilience: A review. Landsc Urban Plann 147: 38-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.11.011

[10] Patel A, Shah P (2021) Rethinking slums, cities, and urban planning: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. Cities Health 5: S145-S147. https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2020.1790252

[11] Banai R (2020) Pandemic and the planning of resilient cities and regions. Cities 106: 102929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102929

[12] Connolly C, Ali SH, Keil R (2020) On the relationships between COVID-19 and extended urbanization. Dialogues Hum Geogr 10: 213-216. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820620934209

[13] Keil R (2020) The density dilemma: There is always too much and too little of it. Urban Geogr 41: 1284-1293. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2020.1850025

[14] Glaeser EL (2020) Cities and pandemics have a long history. Available from: https://www.city-journal.org/article/cities-and-pandemics-have-a-long-history.

[15] Vicino TJ, Voigt RH, Kabir M, et al. (2022) Urban crises and the Covid-19 pandemic: An analytical framework for metropolitan resiliency. Urban Plann 7: 4-14. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v7i3.5376

[16] Marcus L, Colding J (2014) Toward an integrated theory of spatial morphology and resilient urban systems. Ecol Soc 19: 55. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-06939-190455

[17] Kropf K (1996) Urban tissue and the character of towns. Urban Des Int 1: 247-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/135753196351029

[18] Alessandra F, Resilience and urban design: A systems approach to the study of resilience in urban form , Ph. D. thesis, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, 2018.

[19] Comes T, Warnier M, Feil W, et al. (2020) Critical airport infrastructure disaster resilience: A framework and simulation model for rapid adaptation. J Manag Eng 36: 04020059. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000798

[20] Wang H, Li Y, Liu Y, et al. (2021) Study on the Influencing factors of urban economic resilience in post epidemic Era-A case study of Kunming City. J Urban Manag 10: 255-264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2021.06.006

[21] Laguna-Salvadó L, Lauras M, Okongwu U, et al. (2019) A multicriteria Master Planning DSS for a sustainable humanitarian supply chain. Ann Oper Res 283: 1303-1343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-018-2882-3

[22] Sharifi A (2016) A critical review of selected tools for assessing community resilience. Ecol Indic 69: 629-647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.05.023

[23] Barata-Salgueiro T, Erkip F (2014) Retail planning and urban resilience-An introduction to the special issue. Cities 36: 107-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2013.01.007

[24] Batty M (2008) The size, scale, and shape of cities. Science 319: 769-771. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1151419

[25] Batty M (2020) The Coronavirus crisis: What will the post-pandemic city look like? Environ Plann B: Urban Anal City Sci 47: 547-552. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808320926912

[26] Miller F, Osbahr H, Boyd E, et al. (2010) Resilience and vulnerability: Complementary or conflicting concepts. Ecol Soc 15: 11. Available from: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss3/art11/.

[27] Dicken P (2007) Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy , London: Sage.

[28] Batty M, Longley PA (1994) Fractal Cities: A Geometry of Form and Function , Academic Press.

[29] Boeing G, Ha J (2024) Resilient by design: Simulating street network disruptions across every urban area in the world. Transp Res Part A Policy Pract 182: 104016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104016

[30] Tuts R, Knudsen C, Moreno E, et al. (2021) Cities and Pandemics: Towards a More Just, Green and Healthy Future , United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).

[31] Galbusera L, Cardarilli M, Giannopoulos G (2021) The ERNCIP survey on COVID-19: Emergency and Business Continuity for fostering resilience in critical infrastructures. Saf Sci 139: 105161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105161

[32] Chang HH, Meyerhoefer CD, Yang FA (2021) COVID-19 prevention, air pollution and transportation patterns in the absence of a lockdown. J Environ Manag 298: 113522. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113522

[33] Arifwidodo SD, Chandrasiri O (2024) Neighbourhood walkability and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health 21: 387. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21040387

[34] Holling CS, Goldberg MA (1971) Ecology and planning. J Am Inst Plann 37: 221-230. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944367108977962

[35] Gunderson LH, Holling CS (2002) Panarchy: Understanding Transformations in Human and Natural Systems , Washington, DC, USA: Island Press. Available from: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/full/10.5555/20063220475.

[36] Godschalk DR (2003) Urban hazard mitigation: Creating resilient cities. Nat Hazards Rev 4: 136-143. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1527-6988(2003)4:3(136)

[37] Masnavi MR, Gharai F, Hajibandeh M (2019) Exploring urban resilience thinking for its application in urban planning: A review of literature. Int J Environ Sci Technol 16: 567-582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1860-2

[38] Xu C, Rahman M, Haase D, et al. (2020) Surface runoff in urban areas: The role of residential cover and urban growth form. J Clean Prod 262: 121421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121421

[39] Felicioni L, Lupíšek A, Hájek P (2020) Major European stressors and potential of available tools for assessment of urban and buildings resilience. Sustainability 12: 7554. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187554

[40] Alawneh SM, Rashid M (2022) Revisiting urban resilience: A review on resilience of spatial structure in urban refugee neighborhoods facing demographic changes. Front Sustain Cities 4: 806531. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2022.806531

[41] Wolch JR, Byrne J, Newell JP (2014) Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities ‘just green enough’. Landscape Urban Plann 125: 234-244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.01.017

[42] Hillier B, Vaughan L (2007) The city as one thing. Prog Plann 67: 205-230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2007.03.001

[43] Masucci AP, Stanilov K, Batty M (2014) Exploring the evolution of London’s street network in the information space: A dual approach. Phys Rev E 89: 012805. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.012805

[44] Bobkova E, Marcus L, Pont B (2017) Multivariable measures of plot systems: Describing the potential link between urban diversity and spatial form based on the spatial capacity concept, in 11th Space Syntax Symposium, Lisbon .

[45] Dibble J, Prelorendjos A, Romice O, et al. (2015) Urban morphometrics: Towards a science of urban evolution. arXiv preprint arXiv:1506.04875. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.1506.04875

[46] Thwaites K, Simpson J, Simkins I (2020) Transitional edges: A conceptual framework for socio-spatial understanding of urban street edges. Urban Des Int 25: 295-309. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-020-00115-9

[47] Ribeiro PJG, Gonçalves LAPJ (2019) Urban resilience: A conceptual framework. Sustain Cities Soc 50: 101625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101625

[48] Feliciotti A, Romice O, Porta S (2015) Masterplanning for change: Lessons and directions, In: Book of Proceedings AESOP Prague Annual Congress, Czech Technical University, 3051-3065.

[49] Sharifi A (2019) Resilient urban forms: A review of literature on streets and street networks. Build Environ 147: 171-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.09.040

[50] Chelleri L, Waters JJ, Olazabal M, et al. (2015) Resilience trade-offs: Addressing multiple scales and temporal aspects of urban resilience. Environ Urban 27: 181-198. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247814550780

[51] Da Silva J, Kernaghan S, Luque A (2012) A systems approach to meeting the challenges of urban climate change. Int J Urban Sustain Dev 4: 125-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2012.718279

[52] Moensch M, Tyler S, Lage J (2011) Catalyzing Urban Climate Resilience: Applying Resilience Concepts to Planning Practice in the ACCCRN Program , Boulder: ISET-International.

[53] Chelleri L (2012) From the «Resilient City» to Urban Resilience. A review essay on understanding and integrating the resilience perspective for urban systems. Doc Anal Geogr 58: 287-306. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/dag.175

[54] Zhang X, Miller-Hooks E, Denny K (2015) Assessing the role of network topology in transportation network resilience. J Transp Geogr 46: 35-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2015.05.006

[55] Mcclymont K, Bedinger M, Beevers L, et al. (2022) Understanding urban resilience with the urban systems abstraction hierarchy (USAH). Sustain Cities Soc 80: 103729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.103729

[56] Cariolet JM, Vuillet M, Diab Y (2019) Mapping urban resilience to disasters-A review. Sustain Cities Soc 51: 101746. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101746

[57] Folke C (2006) Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social-ecological systems analyses. Glob Environ Change 16: 253-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.04.002

[58] Amuedo-Dorantes C, Marcén M, Morales M, et al. (2023) Schooling and parental labor supply: Evidence from COVID-19 school closures in the United States. ILR Rev 76: 56-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/00197939221099184

[59] Ramani A, Bloom N (2021) The donut effect of Covid-19 on cities. National Bureau of Economic Research. Available from: https://www.nber.org/papers/w28876.

[60] Oliver N, Lepri B, Sterly H, et al. (2020) Mobile phone data for informing public health actions across the COVID-19 pandemic life cycle. Sci Adv 6: eabc0764. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc0764

[61] Kraemer MUG, Yang CH, Gutierrez B, et al. (2020) The effect of human mobility and control measures on the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Science 368: 493-497. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb4218

[62] Liu Y, Wang X, Song C, et al. (2023) Quantifying human mobility resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study of Beijing, China. Sustain Cities Soc 89: 104314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.104314

[63] Dark SJ, Bram D (2007) The modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) in physical geography. Prog Phys Geogr: Earth Environ 31: 471-479. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309133307083294

[64] Feofilovs M, Romagnoli F (2021) Dynamic assessment of urban resilience to natural hazards. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 62: 102328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102328

[65] Zhang J, Wang T (2023) Urban resilience under the COVID-19 pandemic: A quantitative assessment framework based on system dynamics. Cities 136: 104265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104265

[66] Beevers L, Bedinger M, McClymont K, et al. (2022) Modelling systemic COVID-19 impacts in cities. npj Urban Sustain 2: 17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-022-00060-2

[67] Lowe M, Bell S, Briggs J, et al. (2024) A research-based, practice-relevant urban resilience framework for local government. Local Environ 29: 886-901. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2024.2318571

[68] Bedinger M, McClymont K, Beevers L, et al. (2023) Five cities: Application of the Urban Systems Abstraction Hierarchy to characterize resilience across locations. Cities 139: 104355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104355