A team of ISTPP Research Fellows—Drs. Woodruff, Bowman, Hannibal, and Sansom—and ISTPP Director, in memoriam, Dr. Portney, have published their comparative study of resilience policies and programs adopted by the 101 largest U.S. cities. The team established a list of 109 resilience policies and programs based on existing research and evolving theories. The list covered land use, transportation, resource conservation, and public health, among other substantive categories.
They then perused government websites for indications that a city had adopted any of the targeted policies and programs. In addition to the number of policies adopted, the team analyzed the collected data for common groupings among adopted policies. They found that cities tended to adopt resilience policies based on local issues such as levels of stakeholder commitment and available budget rather than adopting substantive sets of programs. As the effects of climate change continue to emphasize emerging and increasing community vulnerabilities, the resilience policy agenda should gain momentum.
Woodruff, Sierra, Ann O’M. Bowman, Bryce Hannibal, Garett Sansom, and Kent Portney. 2021. Urban Resilience: Analyzing the Policies of U.S. Cities.” Cities 115, 103239. DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2021.103239
