Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Resilient Cities: Theoretical Conceptualisations and Observations About the Discourse in the Social and the Planning Sciences

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Resilience in Social, Cultural and Political Spheres

Abstract

Modern societies have developed an increasingly growing awareness of possible threats. On the one hand, this may be said to be a consequence of constantly extended possibilities of measuring and visualising threats. On the other hand, it can be observed that at the same time technological and institutional possibilities of preventing and reducing threats have considerably increased, while however many man-made arrangements have proven to be less controllable than expected at the time of installing them.

This contribution is a substantially reduced, updated and translated version of a report written on behalf of the “Forschungsforum Öffentliche Sicherheit” at the Free University of Berlin, Germany. The original report has been published in German language in the context of the “Schriftenreihe Sicherheit,” No. 19, under the title “Die resiliente Stadt in den Bereichen Infrastrukturen und Bürgergesellschaft,” February, 2016. It is online available at http://www.sicherheit-forschung.de/publikationen/schriftenreihe_neu/sr_v_v/sr_19.pdf. We express our thanks to the Forschungsforum Öffentliche Sicherheit for the kind permission to publish the contribution in the here presented way.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    “Resilience requires sustainability. Sustainability, however, does not require resilience” (Sieverts 2013, p. 318).

  2. 2.

    This approach was developed in the context of a research project titled “Vulnerability and Resilience in a Socio-spatial Perspective” at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) between 2010 and 2012. The project was funded by the Leibniz Association (Christmann et al. 2012; Kilper 2012; Christmann and Ibert 2012).

  3. 3.

    See most of all Müller (2010) with the focus on “Urban Regional Resilience: How do Cities and Regions Deal with Change” in “German Annual of Spatial Research and Policy,” the Special Issue “Vulnerabilität und Resilienz in sozio-räumlicher Perspektive” of the journal “Raumforschung und Raumordnung” (2012), the Special Issue “Resilienz” of the journal “Informationen zur Raumentwicklung” (2013), Beckmann’s (2013a) volume on “Resilienz” in the “Difu-Impulse” series, and Kegler (2014).

  4. 4.

    This is somewhat astonishing, as over their long history cities have always found ways to survive all kinds of catastrophic events. Only a few cities have really disappeared. Thus, it seems as if cities, even if they do not perform it purposefully and strategically, are provided with an astonishing degree of resilience (on this see Vale and Campanella 2005, p. 3; Beckmann 2013a, p. 5).

References

  • Adger, N. W. (2000). Social and ecological resilience: Are they related? Progress in Human Geography 24, 347–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger, N. W. (2006). Vulnerability. Global Environmental Change 16, 268–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amin, A. (2014). Epilogue: The machinery of urban resilience. Social Sciences 3, 308–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balducci, A. (2012). Planning for the crisis. disP – The Planning Review 48, 4–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bathelt, H. & Glückler, J. (2003). Toward a relational economic geography. Journal of Economic Geography 3, 117–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U. (1992) [1986]. Risk society, towards a new modernity. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann, K. J. (2013a). Editorial. In K. J. Beckmann (ed.), Jetzt auch noch resilient? Anforderungen an die Krisenfestigkeit der Städte (pp. 5–6). Difu-Impulse. Band 4. Berlin: difu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann, K. J. (2013b). Resilienz – Eine neue Anforderung im Zusammenhang mit nachhaltiger Stadtentwicklung? Ziele, Merkmale und Zusammenhänge. In K. J. Beckmann (ed.), Jetzt auch noch resilient? Anforderungen an die Krisenfestigkeit der Städte (pp. 7–13). Difu-Impulse. Band 4. Berlin: difu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, P. L. & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkes, F., Colding, J. & Folke, C. (eds.). (2003). Navigating social-ecological systems: Building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berking, H., Frank, S., Frers, L., Löw, M., Meier, L., Steets, S. & Stoetzer, S. (eds.). (2006). Negotiating urban conflicts. Interaction, space, and control. Bielefeld, Piscataway, NJ: Transcript.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birkmann, J. (2007). Risk and vulnerability indicators at different scales. Applicability, usefulness and policy implications. Environmental Hazards 7, 20–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkmann, J. (2008). Globaler Umweltwandel, Naturgefahren, Vulnerabilität und Katastrophenresilienz. Notwendigkeit der Perspektivenerweiterung in der Raumplanung. Raumordnung und Raumforschung 66, 5–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkmann, J. & Fernando, N. (2008). Measuring revealed and emergent vulnerabilities of coastal communities to tsunami in Sri Lanka. Disasters 32, 82–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkmann J. et al. (2011). Glossar – Klimawandel und Raumentwicklung. E-Paper der ARL. Hannover. http://shop.arl-net.de/media/direct/pdf/e-paper_der_arl_nr10.pdf (accessed on 11 February 2018).

  • Bohle, H.-G. (2002). Vulnerability. Editorial to the special issue. Geographica Helvetica 57, 2–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohle, H.-G., Downing, T. E. & Watts, M. J. (1994). Climate change and social vulnerability. Toward a sociology and geography of food insecurity. Global Environmental Change 4, 37–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boykoff, M. T. (2008). The cultural politics of climate change discourse in UK tabloids. Political Geography 27, 549–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brand, F. S. & Jax, K. (2007). Focusing the meaning(s) of resilience: Resilience as a descriptive concept and a boundary object. Ecology and Society 12.http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art23 (accessed on 11 February 2018).

  • Bürk, T., Kühn, M. & Sommer, H. (2012). Stigmatisation of cities. The vulnerability of local identities. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 70, 337–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, T. & Müller-Mahn, D. (2010). Vulnerability, resilience and development discourses in the context of climate change. Natural Hazards 55, 621–635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, S. R., Walker, B. H., Anderies, M. A. & Abel, N. A. (2001). From metaphor to measurement. Resilience of what to what? Ecosystem 4, 765–781.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christmann, G. B. (2016). Das theoretische Konzept der kommunikativen Raum(re)konstruktion. In G. B. Christmann (ed.), Zur kommunikativen Konstruktion von Räumen: theoretische Konzepte und empirische Analysen (pp. 89–117). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christmann, G. B. & Heimann, T. (2017). Understanding divergent constructions of vulnerability and resilience: Climate change discourses in the German cities of Lübeck und Rostock. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 35, 120–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christmann, G. B. & Ibert, O. (2012). Vulnerability and resilience in a socio-spatial perspective. A social-scientific approach. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 70, 259–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christmann, G. B., Kilper, H. & Ibert, O. (2016). Die resiliente Stadt in den Bereichen Infrastrukturen und Bürgergesellschaft. Schriftenreihe Sicherheit 19. http://www.sicherheit-forschung.de/publikationen/schriftenreihe_neu/sr_v_v/sr_19.pdf (accessed on 11 February 2018).

  • Christmann, G. B., Ibert, O., Kilper, H. & Moss, T. (2012). Vulnerability and resilience from a socio-spatial perspective: Towards a theoretical framework. (Working Paper No. 45). Erkner: Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space. https://leibnizirs.de/fileadmin/user_upload/IRS_Working_Paper/wp_vulnerability.pdf (accessed on 11 February 2018).

  • Coaffee, J. & Wood, D. M. (2006). The “everyday” resilience of the city. Human security and resilience. ISP/NSC Briefing Paper 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coaffee, J., Wood, D. M. & Rogers, P. (2008). The everyday resilience of the city. How cities respond to terrorism and disaster. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutter, S. L. & Finch, C. (2008). Temporal and spatial changes in social vulnerability to natural hazards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105, 2301–2306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davoudi, S., Shaw, K., Haider, L. J., Quinlan, A. E., Peterson, G. D., Wilkinson, C., Fünfgeld, H., McEvoy, D. & Porter, L. (2012). Resilience: ‘A bridging concept or a dead end’? ’Reframing’ resilience: Challenges for planning theory and practice interacting traps: Resilience assessment of a pasture management system in northern Afghanistan urban resilience: What does it mean in planning practice? Resilience as a useful concept for climate change adaptation? The politics of resilience for planning: A cautionary note. Planning Theory & Practice 13, 299–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeLanda, M. (2004). Intensive science and virtual philosophy. London: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endress, M. (2015). The social constructedness of resilience. Social Sciences 4, 533–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Endress, M. & Maurer, A. (eds.). (2015). Resilienz im Sozialen. Theoretische und empirische Analysen. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endress, M. & Rampp, B. (2014). Resilienz als Prozess transformativer Autogenese. Schritte zu einer soziologischen Theorie. Behemoth 7, 73–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evers, A. & Nowotny, H. (1987). Über den Umgang mit Unsicherheit. Die Entdeckung der Gestaltbarkeit von Gesellschaft. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer-Kowalski, M. & Erb, K.-H. (2003). Gesellschaftlicher Stoffwechsel im Raum. Auf der Suche nach einem sozialwissenschaftlichen Zugang zur biophysischen Realität. In P. Meusburger & T. Schwan (eds.), Humanökologie. Ansätze zur Überwindung der Natur-Kultur-Dichotomie (pp. 257–285). Stuttgart: Steiner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Floeting, H. (2013). Von harten Zielen und weichen Maßnahmen – Sind ‚resiliente‘ Städte ‚sichere‘ Städte? In K. J. Beckmann (ed.), Jetzt auch noch resilient? Anforderungen an die Krisenfestigkeit der Städte (pp. 14–22). Difu-Impulse. Band 4. Berlin: difu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folke, C. (2006). Resilience: The emergence of a perspective for social-ecological system analyses. Global Environmental Change 16, 253–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox Gotham, K. & Campanella, R. (2013). Constructions of resilience: Ethnoracial diversity, inequality, and Post-Katrina recovery, the case of New Orleans. Social Sciences 2, 298–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallopín, G. C. (2006). Linkages between vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity. Global Environmental Change 16, 293–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, B. E. (ed.). (2012). Collaborative resilience. Moving through crisis to opportunity. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Görg, C. (1999). Gesellschaftliche Naturverhältnisse. Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabher, G. (1993). The weakness of strong ties: the lock-in of regional development in the Ruhr area. In G. Grabher (ed.), The embedded firm. On the socio-economics of industrial networks (pp. 255–277). London & New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabher, G. (1994). Lob der Verschwendung. Redundanz in der Regionalentwicklung: Ein sozioökonomisches Plädoyer. Berlin: Sigma.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabher, G. & Stark, D. (1997). Organizing diversity: Evolutionary theory, network analysis and post-socialism. Regional Studies 31, 533–544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hitthaler, A. (2011). Wieder ein Modewort – Resilienz. PlanerIn 5, 43f.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodson, M. & Marvin, S. (2008). ‘Urban ecological security.’ The new urban paradigm? International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 33, 193–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holling, C. S. & Gunderson, L. H. (2002). Resilience and adaptive cycles. In L. H. Gunderson & C. S. Holling (eds.), Panarchy. Understanding transformations in human and natural systems (pp. 25–62). Washington: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ibert, O. & Schmidt, S. (2012). Acting on multiple stages: How musical actors construct their labour-market vulnerability and resilience. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 70, 349–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakubowski, P. (2013). Resilienz – eine zusätzliche Denkfigur für gute Stadtentwicklung. Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 4, 371–378.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakubowski, P. & Kaltenbrunner, R. (2013). Einführung. Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 4, I–II.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janssen, M. A. & Ostrom, E. (2006). Resilience, vulnerability, and adaptation: A cross-cutting theme of the international human dimensions programme on global environmental change. Global Environmental Change 16, 237–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaltenbrunner, R. (2013). Mobilisierung gesellschaftlicher Bewegungsenergien – Von der Nachhaltigkeit zur Resilienz – und retour? Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 4, 287–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keck, M. & Sakdapolrak, P. (2013). What is social resilience? Lessons learned and ways forward. Erdkunde 67, 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kegler, H. (2014). Resilienz. Strategien und Perspektiven für die widerstandsfähige und lernende Stadt. Gütersloh u.a.: Bauverlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, R., Knoblauch, H. & Reichertz, J. (eds.). (2013). Kommunikativer Konstruktivismus. Theoretische und empirische Arbeiten zu einem neuen wissenssoziologischen Ansatz. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilper, H. (2012). Vulnerability and resilience. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 70, 257–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhlicke, C. (2010). The dynamics of vulnerability: Some preliminary thoughts about the occurrence of ‘radical surprises’ and a case study on the 2002 flood (Germany). Natural Hazards 55, 671–688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kusenbach, M. & Christmann, G. B. (eds.). (2017). Special issue: Disaster vulnerability and resilience building at the social margins. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kusenbach, M., Simms, J. L. & Tobin, G. A. (2010). Disaster vulnerability and evacuation readiness. Coastal mobile home residents in Florida. Natural Hazards 52, 79–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction into actor-network theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Libbe, J. (2013). Angepasste energie- und siedlungswasserwirtschaftliche Infrastrukturen zur Verbesserung der Resilienz. In K. J. Beckmann (ed.), Jetzt auch noch resilient? Anforderungen an die Krisenfestigkeit der Städte (pp. 29–36). Difu-Impulse. Band 4. Berlin: difu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medd, W. & Marvin, S. (2005). From the politics of urgency to the governance of preparedness: A research agenda on urban vulnerability. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 13, 44–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, B. H. (2008). Community resilience. A social justice perspective. CARRI Research Report. Florida International University. http://www.academia.edu/4313849/Community_Resilience_A_Social_Justice_Perspective (accessed on 11 February 2018).

  • Müller, B. (2010). Urban and regional resilience – A new catchword or a consistent concept for research and practice? In B. Müller (ed.), Urban regional resilience. How do cities and regions deal with change? (pp. 1–13) (Reihe German Annual of Spatial Research and Policy 2010). Heidelberg u.a.: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, P., Beatley, T. & Boyer, H. (2009). Resilient cities. Responding to peak oil and climate change. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pelling, M. (2003). The vulnerability of cities: Social resilience and natural disaster. London: Earthscan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike, A., Drawley, S. & Tomaney, J. (2010). Resilience, adaptation and adaptability. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 3, 59–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plöger, J. & Lang, T. (2013). Resilienz als Krisenfestigkeit: Zur Anpassung von Bremen und Leipzig an den wirtschaftlichen Strukturwandel. Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 4, 325–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prowse, M. (2003). Towards a clearer understanding of ‘vulnerability’ in relation to chronic poverty. Manchester: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, T. (2012). Vulnerability through resilience? An example of the counterproductive effects of spatially related governance in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 70, 309–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnur, O. (2013). Resiliente Quartiersentwicklung. Eine Annäherung über das Panarchie-Modell adaptiver Zyklen. Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 4, 337–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schott, D. (2013). Katastrophen, Krisen und städtische Resilienz: Blicke in die Stadtgeschichte. Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 4, 297–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schütz, A. (1953). Common sense and scientific interpretation of human action. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 14, 1–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sieverts, T. (2013). Am Beginn einer Stadtentwicklungsepoche der Resilienz? Folgen für Architektur, Städtebau und Politik. Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 4, 315–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sondershaus, F. & Moss, T. (2014). Your resilience is my vulnerability: ‘Rules in use’ in a local water conflict. Social Sciences 3, 172–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stark, D. (2014). On resilience. Social Sciences 3, 60–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, B. L., Kasperson, R. E., Matson, P. A., McCarthy, J. J., Corell, R. W., Christensen, L., Eckley, N., Kasperson, J. X., Luers, A. & Martello, M. L. (2003). A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100, 8074–8079.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ungar, M. (2011). Theorie in die Tat umsetzen. Fünf Prinzipien für Interventionen. In: M. Zander (ed.), Handbuch Resilienzförderung (pp. 157–177). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vale, L. J. & Campanella, T. J. (eds.). (2005). The resilient city. How modern cities recover from disaster. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, M. (2008). The vulnerable can’t speak. An integrative vulnerability approach to disaster and climate change research. Behemoth 3, 39–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, B. H. & Salt, D. (2006). Resilience thinking. Sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, B. H. & Salt, D. (2012). Resilience practice. Building capacity to absorb disturbance and maintain function. Washington, DC: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, B., Holling, C. S., Carpenter, S. R. & Kinzig, A. (2004). Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society 9. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss2/art5 (accessed on 11 February 2018).

  • Walker, B., Gunderson, L., Kinzig, A., Folke, C., Carpenter, S. & Schultz, L. (2006). A handful of heuristics and some propositions for understanding resilience in social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society 11. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art13 (accessed on 11 February 2018).

  • WCED – World Commission on Environment and Development (1987). Our common future. Brundlandt-Report. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wink, R. (2014). Regional economic resilience: European experiences and policy issues. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 72, 85–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wink, R. (ed.) (2016). Multidisziplinäre Perspektiven der Resilienzforschung. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisner, B., Blaikie, P., Cannon, T. & Davis, I. (2004). At risk. Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeung, H. W. (2005). Rethinking relational economic geography. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 30, 37–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zehetmair, S. (2012). Societal aspects of vulnerability to natural hazards. Raumforschung und Raumordnung 70, 273–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz-Institut für Raumbezogene Sozialforschung e.V. (IRS), Erkner, Germany

    Gabriela Christmann, Heiderose Kilper & Oliver Ibert

Authors
  1. Gabriela Christmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Heiderose Kilper
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Oliver Ibert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriela Christmann .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department IV – General Sociology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

    Benjamin Rampp

  2. Department IV – General Sociology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

    Martin Endreß

  3. Department IV – General Sociology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

    Marie Naumann

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Christmann, G., Kilper, H., Ibert, O. (2019). Resilient Cities: Theoretical Conceptualisations and Observations About the Discourse in the Social and the Planning Sciences. In: Rampp, B., Endreß, M., Naumann, M. (eds) Resilience in Social, Cultural and Political Spheres. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-15329-8_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-15329-8_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-658-15328-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-658-15329-8

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation