An Energy-Resilient City, an Appraisal Matrix for the Built Environment

Abstract

The 21st century is known as the century of the city; the world is becoming more urban with more than half of the world's population residing in cities. In this respect, a city is a complex dynamic system of interconnected urban processes. Nowadays, cities are hot spots responsible for the threatened global environment and urban life, as well as chronic stresses and vulnerabilities. Chronic energy shortage is one of the main stresses that threatens the city and puts pressure on city systems, mainly due to the impact of higher energy uses in urban areas. Vulnerabilities, stresses and adaptability are fundamental to the emerging science of resilience. While the concept of resilience is intriguing, this paper contributes to filling the theoretical gaps of the urban energy resilience by reviewing the concept of urban resilience, explaining the energy resilience principles and identifying the built environment components that can be used to help planners to enhance the city to absorb, recover and adapt to the vulnerabilities of the city. The paper concludes with suggesting an urban energy resilience matrix that addresses the energy shortage in a city to better understand and analyze the intricate issues for an energy-efficient, resilient, safer future city.

Improvingurban Energyresiliencewith an Integrative Framework Based on Machine Learningmethods

“…In general, previous studies on the urban resilience concept have been based on theoretical frameworks that illustrate urban dynamics over time and show how the physical structure of cities can facilitate urban resilience (Olazabal et al, 2012;Sharifi, 2019;Yamagata, 2014a, 2018). However, more recent studies by Sharifi and Yamagata (2016b), Ohshita and Johnson (2017), Ragheb et al (2017), andNik et al (2021) indicate how energy systems can be integrated into the infrastructure that fosters urban resilience. Moreover, Hasselqvist et al (2022) provide a complex perspective of such resilience, by using households as a starting point.…”

“…The resilience and stability of ecological systems is a concept proposed by Holling (1973), who described it as the "ability of a system to absorb changes of state variables, driving variables, and parameters" (Saikia et al, 2022;Satterthwaite et al, 2020;Woolf et al, 2016). Since sustainability addresses the requirement for a long-term equilibrium among all systems, Ragheb et al (2017) clarified that resilience as a concept is essential for comprehending the notion of sustainability. Resilience can also be considered a new way of thinking that can help people adjust to vulnerabilities, unprecedented changes, and unforeseen circumstances.…”

“…An UER matrix that addresses energy shortages in cities. (Ragheb et al, 2017) To review the steps taken to adapt urban energy systems to climate change, with a focus on climate resilience.…”

“…Multiple dimensions of urban resilience and their ties to the UN's SDGs. Source: The authors' insights, based on reviewing (Bibri et al, 2020;Gharai et al, 2018;Ragheb et al, 2017;Satterthwaite and Dodman, 2013;Sharifi, 2016Sharifi, , 2019Sharifi and Yamagata, 2014a, 2015 urban infrastructures (despite the many challenges) and their resilience includes four dimensions that address vulnerabilities: climate, resources, infrastructure, and community. Regarding the climate dimension, climate change brings about various physical phenomena.…”

“…The 21 st century has been referred to as the "century of the city", since more than half of the world's population currently resides in cities and urban areas (Nik et al, 2021;Ragheb et al, 2017). However, such areas are complex dynamic systems that face various social, economic, and environmental threats, all of which challenge their resilience and/ or expose their vulnerabilities (Elzeni et al, 2022;Gültekin, 2021).…”