Citation

Meerow S, Newell JP. Urban Geogr. 2019; 40(3): 309-329.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02723638.2016.1206395

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In academic and policy discourse, the concept of urban resilience is proliferating. Social theorists, especially human geographers, have rightfully criticized that the underlying politics of resilience have been ignored and stress the importance of asking "resilience of what, to what, and for whom?" This paper calls for careful consideration of not just resilience for whom and what, but also where, when, and why. A three-phase process is introduced to enable these "five Ws" to be negotiated collectively and to engender critical reflection on the politics of urban resilience as plans, initiatives, and projects are conceived, discussed, and implemented. Deployed through the hypothetical case of green infrastructure in Los Angeles, the paper concludes by illustrating how resilience planning trade-offs and decisions affect outcomes over space and time, often with significant implications for equity.

Language: en

Keywords

adaptation; green infrastructure; social-ecological systems; Urban resilience; urban sustainability; vulnerability