Earlier this month, 35 mayors from major cities around the world
convened for the Resilient Cities 2011 Conference and released a
declaration [PDF] that highlighted the recent rise in natural
disasters and the imperative for cities to increase their
resiliency and ability to adapt to climate change. But what does
it mean for a city to be “resilient” to climate change? Which
cities are most resilient — and what makes a city vulnerable?
Grist recently ran a slideshow featuring “the top 10 climate
ready U.S. cities” — which was basically a measure of steps
those cities were taking to reduce carbon emissions. What that
piece didn’t address is how vulnerable or resilient a city is to
climate change based on the city’s environmental context. For
instance: What’s a city’s risk for climate-related disasters? Is
its water supply sustainable?