Towards Equitable Urban Resilience in the Global South Within a Context of Planning and Management

Abstract

Over the last decade, the need to advance urban resilience research and practice has been emphasised, especially for safeguarding important ecosystem services that are critical for human wellbeing in and around cities. The pace and scale of changes in the Anthropocene make this imperative even more pressing, especially within the context of rapid urbanisation, infrastructure deficits and rising inequalities in the Global South. In this chapter, we contribute to these advances by highlighting the value of taking a social-ecological resilience approach to understanding the contested nature of urban resilience from multiple perspectives. We discuss important principles for exploring and building resilience and how these principles can be used within the context of urban resilience using two examples from the Global South. This chapter also outlines how an intersectionality approach can advance conceptualisation and implementation of resilience by focusing explicitly on how power mediates certain relationships and interdependencies in socialecological systems. Foregrounding the role of power can assist with better understanding the opportunities for adaptation and transformation and 'putting the last, first' in resilience research and practice. We conclude by exploring some key gaps, blindspots and opportunities for a research-action agenda for urban resilience going forward.

Inclusion of ecosystem services in the management of municipal natural open space systems

“…Despite the disconcerting evidence of diverse, often conflicting values related to the relevance of natural open space, and the institutional challenges, innovative measures are being implemented at various scales, which could be adapted to place rapidly urbanising cities on a more sustainable trajectory. For example, urban visioning processes increase agency by enabling diverse communities to generate shared and pluralistic visions of futures, through explicitly examining trade‐offs and engaging with concerns of complex power and equity dynamics in city management, creating opportunities for transformation towards urban resilience, justice and sustainability (McPhearson et al., 2016; Sitas et al., 2021). Participation of multiple knowledge systems is essential for just cities (Joubert & Mistra Urban Futures, 2020).…”

“…Maintaining or restoring critical ecosystem services needs to be coupled with an understanding of residents' socio‐economic realities. This infers the need to recognise contextual power asymmetries in understanding how access to urban ecosystem services is mediated, highlighting a need for innovative, collaborative local government initiatives which can improve the social‐ecological resilience of communities by, for example, local nature‐based employment opportunities and education initiatives (Sitas et al., 2021). Further investigation could expand on potential collaborative, innovative solutions appropriate for the city's context.…”

“…Increased calls for consideration of the inter-and intragenerational implications of environmental justice in the urban resilience agenda are closely aligned with spatial justice (Joubert & Mistra Urban Futures, 2020;O'Farrell et al, 2019;Sitas et al, 2021;Ziervogel et al, 2017). Based on a case study of Sofia City Forest, Bulgaria, Tozer et al (2020) highlight the importance of recognising and addressing socio-spatial inequality in terms of accessing the benefits of nature.…”

“…The method followed in this study also assists in initiating understanding of if and how the SDGs are incorporated into urban planning, and the reasons therefore. The method used in the research, or an adaption thereof, could be applied in other cities as an exploratory approach to understanding how officials within local government value and understand the ployment opportunities and education initiatives (Sitas et al, 2021).…”

Youth visions in a changing climate: Emerging lessons from using immersive and arts-based methods for strengthening community-engaged research with urban youth

“…The future is bright, gets brighter every day. I am the future and the future is me (Youth Participant) Healthy, functioning and accessible urban ecosystems have a critical role to play in enhancing the resilience of city landscapes, both now and into the future, and constitute a disproportionately important safety net for many marginalised communities (Keeler et al 2019;Sitas et al 2021). Rapid and unplanned urbanisation has eroded the capacity of coupled social-ecological systems to absorb, adapt and transform in response to multiple pressures, including climate change, limiting the contribution of these systems to human wellbeing through the provision of essential ecosystem services (Bai et al 2018;du Toit et al 2018;IPBES 2019;Keeler et al 2019).…”