Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Urban Regions Now & Tomorrow pp 73–97Cite as

Resilience, Sustainability and Transformability of Cities as Complex Adaptive Systems

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Studien zur Resilienzforschung ((STRE))

Abstract

Cities can be understood as complex-adaptive systems that have the opportunity to manage their resilience towards sustainability through processes of transformation. The concept of ‘urban resilience’ has been applied in many different disciplines (climate change, disaster risk reduction, planning, economy, sociology and psychology) which enrich the study of its tenets. Yet there is a lack of a shared framework, of a widely accepted definition and a lack of an operative approach to urban resilience. In addition to this, the concept of ‘transformation’ has been discussed and used in the study of different types of systems such as socio-technical systems (STS) and socio-ecological systems (SES). In this chapter the ‘umbrella’ concept of ‘Sustainable Urban Transformation’ (SUT) and the specific notion of ‘Urban Resilient Sustainability Transition’ (URST) are proposed to provide a conceptual framework for resilience and transformability and answer the question of how cities should plan and manage their processes of change towards sustainability. Further, three challenges are identified: investing in technology, grey and green infrastructures; understanding institutions and actors in SUT; and fostering knowledge generation and management for enabling urban resilient sustainability transitions.

This is a preview of subscription content, 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   44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   59.99
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

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alberti, M., & Marzluff, J. M. (2004). Ecological resilience in urban ecosystems: Linking urban patterns to human and ecological functions. Urban Ecosystems, 7, 241–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alberti, M., Marzluff, J. M., Shulenberger, E., Bradley, G., Ryan, C., & Zumbrunnen, C. (2003). Integrating humans into ecology: Opportunities and challenges for studying urban ecosystems. BioScience, 53, 1169–1179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azar, C., & Sandén, B. A. (2011). The elusive quest for technology-neutral policies. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1, 135–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbier, E. B. (2011). Transaction costs and the transition to environmentally sustainable development. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1, 58–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beisner, B. E., Haydon, D. T., & Cuddington, K. (2003). Alternative stable states in ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 1, 376–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beratan, K. K. (2007). A cognition-based view of decision processes in complex social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 12.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Google Scholar 

  • Blühdorn, I. (2007). Sustaining the unsustainable: symbolic politics and the politics of simulation. Environmental Politics, 16, 251–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolis, I., Morioka, S. N., & Sznelwar, L. I. (2014). When sustainable development risks losing its meaning. Delimiting the concept with a comprehensive literature review and a conceptual model. Journal of Cleaner Production, 83, 7–20. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.06.041

    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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, S., Walker, B., Anderies, J. M., & Abel, N. (2001). From metaphor to measurement: Resilience of what and to what? Ecosystems, 4, 765–781. doi:10.1007/sl0021-001-0045-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin, F. S., III, Carpenter, S. R., Kofinas, G. P., Folke, C., Abel, N., Clark, W. C., et al. (2010). Ecosystem stewardship: Sustainability strategies for a rapidly changing planet. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25, 241–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chelleri, L., & Olazabal, M. (2012). Multidisciplinary perspectives on urban resilience. Basque centre for Climate Change (BC3), Bilbao.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chelleri, L., Waters, J. J., Olazabal, M., & Minucci, G. (2015). Resilience trade-offs: Addressing multiple scales and temporal aspects of urban resilience. Environment and Urbanization 0956247814550780. doi:10.1177/0956247814550780

  • Cruz-Peragon, F., Casanova-Pelaez, P. J., Diaz, F. A., Lopez-Garcia, R., & Palomar, J. M. (2012). An approach to evaluate the energy advantage of two axes solar tracking systems in Spain. Applied Energy, 88, 5131–5142. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.07.018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davoudi, S., Shaw, K., Haider, L. J., Quinlan, A. E., Peterson, G. D., Wilkinson, C., et al. (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 

  • Dawson, R. J. (2011). Potential pitfalls on the transition to more sustainable cities and how they might be avoided. Carbon Management, 2, 175–188. doi:10.4155/cmt.11.8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dieleman, H. (2013). Organizational learning for resilient cities, through realizing eco-cultural innovations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 50, 171–180. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ernst, L., de Graaf-Van Dinther, R. E., Peek, G. J., & Loorbach, D. A. (2016). Sustainable urban transformation and sustainability transitions; conceptual framework and case study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 2988–2999. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.10.136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ernstson, H., van der Leeuw, S. E., Redman, C. L., Meffert, D. J., Davis, G., Alfsen, C., et al. (2010). Urban transitions: On urban resilience and human-dominated ecosystems. Ambio, 39, 531–545. doi:10.1007/s13280-010-0081-9

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J. P. (2011). Resilience, ecology and adaptation in the experimental city. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 36, 223–237. doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2010.00420.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foliente, G., Rodgers, A., Blutstein, H., & Wang, X. (2007). Urban sustainability transition—A “tipping point” approach. In: SOAC 2007—State of Australian cities. Adelaide, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folke, C., Carpenter, S., Elmqvist, T., Gunderson, L., Holling, C. S., & Walker, B. (2002). Resilience and sustainable development: Building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations. Ambio, 31, 437–440.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fournier, V. (2008). Escaping from the economy: Politics of degrowth. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 28, 528–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geels, F. (2010). The role of cities in technological transitions: Analytical clarifications and historical examples. In: H. Bulkeley, V. C. Broto., M. Hodson, & S. Marvin (Eds.). Cities and low carbon transitions (pp. 13–28). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geels, F. W., & Kemp, R. (2007). Dynamics in socio-technical systems: Typology of change processes and contrasting case studies. Technology in Society, 29, 441–455.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, S. E., Handley, J. F., Ennos, A. R., & Pauleit, S. (2007). Adapting cities for climate change: The role of the green infrastructure. Built Environment, 1978, 115–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, N. B., Grove, J. M., Pickett, S. T. A., & Redman, C. L. (2000). Integrated approaches to long-term studies of urban ecological systems. BioScience, 50, 571–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, N. B., & Redman, C. L. (2004). Approaches to the study of urban ecosystems: The case of Central Arizona—Phoenix. Urban Ecosystems, 7, 199–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodson, M., & Marvin, S. (2012). Mediating low-carbon urban transitions? Forms of organization, knowledge and action. European Planning Studies, 20, 421–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodson, M., & Marvin, S. (2010). Can cities shape socio-technical transitions and how would we know if they were? Research Policy, 39, 477–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holden, E., Linnerud, K., & Banister, D. (2014). Sustainable development: Our common future revisited. Global Environmental Change, 26, 130–139. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling, C. S. (1986). The resilience of terrestrial ecosystems; local surprise and global change. In W. C. Clark & R. E. Munn (Eds.), Sustainable development of the biosphere (pp. 292–317). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holling, C. S. (1973). Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 4, 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsson, S., & Bergek, A. (2011). Innovation system analyses and sustainability transitions: Contributions and suggestions for research. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1, 41–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jansson, A. (2013). Reaching for a sustainable, resilient urban future using the lens of ecosystem services. Ecological Economics, 86, 285–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kates, R. W., Travis, W. R., & Wilbanks, T. J. (2012). Transformational adaptation when incremental adaptations to climate change are insufficient. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 7156–7161. doi:10.1073/pnas.1115521109

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, R. (1994). Technology and the transition to environmental sustainability—The problem of technological regime shifts. Futures, 26, 1023–1046.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemp, R., & van Lente, H. (2011). The dual challenge of sustainability transitions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1, 121–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein, R. J. T. (2004). Approaches, methods and tools for climate change impact, vulnerability and adaptation assessment. In: Session workshop on impacts of, and vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. Twenty-first session of the UNFCCC subsidiary body for scientific and technical advice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lansing, J. S. (2003). Complex adaptive systems. Annual Review of Anthropology, 32, 183–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebel, L., Anderies, J. M., Campbell, B., Folke, C., Hatfield-Dodds, S., Hughes, T. P., & Wilson, J. (2006). Governance and the capacity to manage resilience in regional social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leichenko, R. (2011). Climate change and urban resilience. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3, 164–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, J., Dietz, T., Carpenter, S. R., Alberti, M., Folke, C., Moran, E., et al. (2007). Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science, 317, 1513–1516. doi:10.1126/science.1144004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loorbach, D. (2007). Transition management: New mode of governance for sustainable development. Rotterdam: Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovell, S. T., & Taylor, J. R. (2013). Supplying urban ecosystem services through multifunctional green infrastructure in the United States. Landscape Ecology, 28, 1447–1463. doi:10.1007/s10980-013-9912-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, K., Anderberg, S., Coenen, L., & Neij, L. (2013). Advancing sustainable urban transformation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 50, 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.01.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meadowcroft, J. (2011). Engaging with the politics of sustainability transitions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1, 70–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meerow, S., Newell, J. P., & Stults, M. (2016). Defining urban resilience: A review. Landscape and Urban Planning, 147, 38–49. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.11.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishan, E. J. (1967). The costs of economic growth. London: Staples Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Næss, P., & Vogel, N. (2012). Sustainable urban development and the multi-level transition perspective. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 4, 36–50. doi:10.1016/j.eist.2012.07.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, D. R., Adger, W. N., & Brown, K. (2007). “Adaptation to environmental change: Contributions of a resilience framework.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 32, 395–419. doi:10.1146/annurev.energy.32.051807.090348

  • Nevens, F., Frantzeskaki, N., Gorissen, L., & Loorbach, D. (2013). Urban transition labs: Co-creating transformative action for sustainable cities. Journal of Cleaner Production, 50, 111–122. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.12.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nevens, F., & Roorda, C. (2014). A climate of change: A transition approach for climate neutrality in the city of Ghent (Belgium). Sustainable Cities and Society, 10, 112–121. doi:10.1016/j.scs.2013.06.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olazabal, M. (2014). Sustainable urban development under climate change and resource scarcity. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, Department of Land Economy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olazabal, M., Chelleri, L., & Waters, J. J. (2012). Why urban resilience? In: L. Chelleri, & M. Olazabal (Eds.). Multidisciplinary perspectives on urban resilience: A workshop report. Bilbao, Spain: Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3).

    Google Scholar 

  • Olazabal, M., & Pascual, U. (2016). Use of fuzzy cognitive maps to study urban resilience and transformation. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 18, 18–40. doi:10.1016/j.eist.2015.06.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsson, P., Galaz, V., & Boonstra, W. J. (2014). Sustainability transformations: A resilience perspective. Ecology and Society, 19. doi:10.5751/ES-06799-190401

  • Pelling, M., & Manuel-Navarrete, D. (2011). From resilience to transformation: The adaptive cycle in two Mexican urban centers. Ecology and Society, 16, 11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pendall, R., Foster, K. A., & Cowell, M. (2010). Resilience and regions: Building understanding of the metaphor. Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society, 3, 71–84. doi:10.1093/cjres/rsp028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett, S. T. A., Boone, C. G., McGrath, B. P., Cadenasso, M. L., Childers, D. L., Ogden, L. A., et al. (2013). Ecological science and transformation to the sustainable city. Cities, 32, S10–S20. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2013.02.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett, S. T. A., Cadenasso, M. L., & Grove, J. M. (2004). Resilient cities: Meaning, models, and metaphor for integrating the ecological, socio-economic, and planning realms. Landscape and Urban Planning, 69, 369–384. doi:10.1016/j.landurpbplan.2003.10.035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett, S. T. A., Cadenasso, M. L., Grove, J. M., Nilon, C. H., Pouyat, R. V., Zipperer, W. C., et al. (2001). Urban ecological systems: Linking terrestrial ecological, physical, and socioeconomic components of metropolitan areas. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 32, 127–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rees, W., & Wackernagel, M. (1996). Urban ecological footprints: Why cities cannot be sustainable—And why they are a key to sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 16, 223–248. doi:10.1016/s0195-9255(96)00022-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Resilience Alliance. (2007). Urban Resilience Research Prospectus. A Resilience Alliance Initiative for Transitioning Urban Systems towards Sustainable Futures. CSIRO, Australia, Arizona State University, USA, Stockholm University, Sweden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rijke, J., Farrelly, M., Brown, R., & Zevenbergen, C. (2013). Configuring transformative governance to enhance resilient urban water systems. Environmental Science & Policy, 25, 62–72. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2012.09.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero-Lankao, P., & Gnatz, D. M. (2013). Exploring urban transformations in Latin America. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 5, 358–367. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2013.07.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rotmans, J., Kemp, R., van Asselt, M., Geels, F. W., Verbong, G. P. J., Molendijk, K., et al. (2000). Transitions & transition management: The case for a low emission energy supply. Maastricht: ICIS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, C. (2013). Eco-Acupuncture: Designing and facilitating pathways for urban transformation, for a resilient low-carbon future. Journal of Cleaner Production, 50, 189–199. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.11.029

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydin, Y. (1999). Can we talk ourselves into sustainability? The role of discourse in the environmental policy process. Environmental Values, 8, 467–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydin, Y., & Goodier, C. (2010). Editorial: Sustainable energy and sustainable cities. Proceedings of the ICE—Urban Design and Planning, 163, 147–148. doi:10.1680/udap.2010.163.4.147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Satterthwaite, D. (2011). How urban societies can adapt to resource shortage and climate change. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 369, 1762–1783. doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher, E. F. (1973). Small is beautiful: Economics as if people mattered. New York: Perennial Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A. (2010). Community-led urban transitions and resilience: Performing transition towns in a city. In H. Bulkeley, V. C. Broto, M. Hodson, & S. Marvin (Eds.), Cities and low carbon transitions (pp. 159–177). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Truffer, B., & Coenen, L. (2011). Environmental innovation and sustainability transitions in regional studies. Regional Studies Associations Conference. Regional Studies Annual Lecture.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN. (1987). Report of the World Commission on environment and development: Our common future. United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN. (2015). Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNU/IAS. (2003). Urban ecosystem analysis: Identifying tools and methods. United Nations University. Institute of Advanced Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Brugge, R., & Van Raak, R. (2007). Facing the adaptive management challenge: Insights from transition management. Ecology and Society, 12, 33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    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.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. New edition. Cambridge, U.K.; New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westley, F., Olsson, P., Folke, C., Homer-Dixon, T., Vredenburg, H., Loorbach, D., et al. (2011). Tipping toward sustainability: Emerging pathways of transformation. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 40, 762–780. doi:10.1007/s13280-011-0186-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteman, G., de Vos, D. R., Chapin, F. S., Yli-Pelkonen, V., Niemelä, J., & Forbes, B. C. (2011). Business strategies and the transition to low-carbon cities. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20, 251–265. doi:10.1002/bse.691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Y., Scholl, P. D. B., & Wu, P. D. Z. (2010). Sustainable urban transformation: driving forces, indicators and processes. Zurich, Switzerland: ETH ZURICH.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author holds an individual fellowship grant by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (FPDI-2013-16631).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Basque Centre for Climate Change-BC3, Alameda de Urquijo, 4, 48008, Bilbao, Spain

    Marta Olazabal

Authors
  1. Marta Olazabal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta Olazabal .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. HafenCity Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Sonja Deppisch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Olazabal, M. (2017). Resilience, Sustainability and Transformability of Cities as Complex Adaptive Systems. In: Deppisch, S. (eds) Urban Regions Now & Tomorrow. Studien zur Resilienzforschung. Springer, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-16759-2_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation