The concept of urban resilience appeals to a broad array of disciplines and may serve a valuable function as a boundary object. However, urban resilience is a fuzzy and contested term and some scholars now reject resilience altogether. I believe that the concept is redeemable, but greater attention needs to be paid to the variable meanings, politics, equity implications, and tradeoffs of urban resilience. To this end, I study the different ways in which urban resilience is defined and characterized among academic disciplines, policymakers, and the public, I examine the implications of these multiple understandings, and I develop frameworks to minimize conceptual confusion and ultimately facilitate more critical and equitable resilience policies.
Meerow, Sara & Fabian G. Neuner. 2020. “Positively resilient? How framing local action affects public opinion.” Urban Affairs Review. Link
Meerow, Sara and Joshua Newell. 2019. “Urban resilience for whom, what, when, where, and why?" Urban Geography. Link
Moser, Susanne, Sara Meerow, James C. Arnott, Emily Jack-Scott. 2019. “The Turbulent world of resilience: Interpretations and themes for transdisciplinary dialogue.” Climatic Change. Link
Meerow, Sara, Joshua Newell, Melissa Stults. 2016. “Defining Urban Resilience: A Review” Landscape and Urban Planning. 147: 38-49. Link
Meerow, Sara and Melissa Stults. 2016. “Comparing conceptualizations of urban climate resilience in theory and practice." Sustainability. 8(7): 701. Link