When we step back from high emotions—in either direction—after the U.S. election last week, we see millions of extraordinary people doing yeoman’s work to make our lives, cities, and communities better and more resilient. Hundreds of ways they are doing so were on vivid display at the Smart Cities Expo World Congress 2024 last week in Barcelona, Spain which I had the privilege of exploring. People from across the globe who share a fervent desire to make our cities run more efficiently, serve more residents more effectively and be more resilient – that is, to make them “smarter” — gathered and displayed their solutions.
It's a living reminder that clever, determined, creative people will always use their imagination, resources, networks and elbow grease to find a way to solve every day challenges both large and small. Most of the people I talked to at the Expo – from the Netherlands, to Cyprus and Singapore, from Europe to the Middle East, and fellow Americans – are quick to say their work continues no matter who sits in the White House.
Companies, governments and startups innovating to make urban environments more resilient to climate change, more prosperous, more livable and more affordable, as well as more fun and easier to navigate, are not slowing down their work. Indeed they seem revved up, believing it’s more important than ever to not let anyone, especially anyone who has called climate change “a hoax,” derail their work – even if it’s a (returning) President of the U.S.
They need to because 58% of the world's population, or about 4.7 billion people now live in an urban environment, according to the World Economic Forum. And, that’s expected to rise to 70% by 2050.
Look at cities holistically
“You look at your city as a whole,” Lauren Sorkin, Cofounder and Executive Director of the Resilient Cities Network, told me in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Smart Cities Expo. Ask questions such as, “Where are your weaknesses, but also where are your strengths? What can you build up on?” The answers create a framework that has four dimensions to identify “what's available to the city to get stronger and to be that best version of itself.” Resilient Cities Network has over 100 cities in 40 countries to date.
Sorkin explained that it has four dimensions:
- health and wellbeing, which includes, “How healthy is your city, right? And the people in it.”
- economy and society, which includes, “What kind of jobs are available? What kind of jobs do you want to make available, right? What kind? We're here at a smart cities conference, do you want to bring more tech in? Do you want to make better use of your ecosystem on knowledge to bring different kinds of businesses in?”
- environment and ecosystems that cities have. That refers to the physical attributes of the city, for example, “if I'm a city that’s on a river, or if I'm a city that might have earthquakes, I have different things going for me and different challenges.” And,
- leadership and governance.
Resilience is key
In today’s world where cities face multiple challenges, or as Sorkin put it “compounding crises,” the key for cities and communities in general is to be resilient and “rather than be overwhelmed by those crises and complexities, they can actually find a pathway forward” to achieve their objectives. They just might need to pivot to get there.
“Resilience” means “their ability to absorb and then bounce back and in fact bounce forward from a shock or stress,” is how Sorkin defined it, where that shock or stress can be a climate disaster, an earthquake, a pandemic or a financial or other kind of crisis. “How fast does your infrastructure come back on line in the case of an emergency or disaster? What are your back up plans? What are your plans to protect people?” and of course, economic development. “Is your economy growing? Do you have a healthy population?,” which in this case means not just well-being but also is the population of your city growing or shrinking? Having a Chief Resilience Officer is “extremely important” in today’s economy and environment, Sorkin emphasized, so there is someone whose remit is to focus on these issues. Hundreds of cities around the world now have one, too, she said.
“Eco-urbanism solutions” and listening
“Eco-urbanism and using nature-based solutions is a way to bring nature back into our cities and to use nature as a way to solve multiple problems,” Sorkin said. “Eco urbanism is a true resilient solution because we are able to address challenges of climate, heat, and flooding. We're able to address issues of mental health, because we know that when people have better access to green spaces, their stress levels go down, and we're able to address beauty and we're able to bring biodiversity back. So these multiple benefits are what characterize eco urbanism.”
Listening to your residents is key to find out what issues they need focused on and then talking with them in ways they will hear you. “You don’t have to talk about climate change to your community, but you do have to talk to them about how to be safe during a flood and how to be safe during the heat wave, and everybody wants to keep their communities safe,” Sorkin added. “We have to communicate in a way that motivates people, that affects them at home.”
“Multi-sector partnerships” – internally and externally
Sorkin led a panel at the Smart Cities Expo with leaders from Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Luxembourg, who all agreed that “multi-sector partnerships” are more important than ever to help cities be climate resilient and achieve their livability goals.
Cities around the world are openly sharing best practices and collaborating to achieve their goals, including through organizations like Sorkin’s Resilient Cities Network, C40 and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Cities of Service.
“Resilience is a team sport. You cannot build resilience in isolation,” Sorkin insisted. It’s important to break down silos. “I cannot emphasize enough how important multi-sector action teamwork is when it comes to resilience. Your business, your institution, your university can only exist within that ecosystem. So, understand that and go out and talk with those people, work with those people.”
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Joan Michelson
Quelle/Source: Forbes, 13.11.2024
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