City Resilience and Smartness: Interrelation and Reciprocity

Abstract

So far, cities have largely managed to face common risks and reduce the chances of happening. Regarding old, but especially new, risks, cities and communities need to show resilience—the ability to mitigate, absorb, adapt, and transform external pressures and threats. Over the years, cities tend to develop into smart cities. Like every other, a smart city has to face risks, like climate change, pandemics, etc., which cause huge losses in human lives and the economy. A major question arises here. Are the aspects of a smart city enough to make it resilient? Many of these aspects, indeed, contribute to a more resilient city. Although resilience is achieved mostly in smart cities, the features of a smart city may not be enough to make it resilient. Literature review shows that the research on the smart city or resilient city skills and competencies is in the early stages and there are insufficient findings to compare skills and competencies for a smart or resilient city. This chapter helps overcome this barrier, up to a point, by presenting major similarities and differences between a smart and a resilient city, as the background of topics and areas, where relevant skills and competencies will be needed.