The question of resilience has become an important topic for cities for some time now. Climate change, the pandemic, terrorist attacks, and the war in Europe pose new challenges for our cities and their development.

According to UN-Habitat, urban resilience refers to “the measurable ability of any urban system, together with its inhabitants, to maintain continuity despite shocks and stresses, while positively adapting and transforming toward sustainability.” Nevertheless, resilience is not a clearly defined term. It must always be related to a specific hazard, crisis, or risk, each requiring different adaptation strategies and transformations.

Resilience is multidimensional. The technical dimension often takes center stage—for example, when examining critical infrastructure. But even when addressing the function and crisis-proofing of water supply and wastewater systems, transportation, energy, or information infrastructures, societal discourse and negotiation among diverse urban stakeholders are always needed. Resilience is therefore not only technically but also socially constructed. Public acceptance of measures—for example, climate adaptation—grows when such measures also enhance the attractiveness of urban spaces and thus improve quality of life.

In urban development, resilience means making cities more robust, more capable of learning, more adaptable, and more attractive. Since crises cannot be avoided entirely, the goal is to strengthen the ability to cope with them and emerge better prepared. This creates a connection to a sustainable, common-good-oriented, and future-proof city. In this sense, resilience is a core component of the current guiding principles of European urban development.