More than Smart, Beyond Resilient: Networking Communities for Antifragile Cities

Abstract

The discourse about smart cities has recently evolved to include the particular notion of resilient cities: those enacting a series of processes -- often employing digital technologies -- towards aspirational standards of urban areas more robust and tolerant to potential accidents and a range of unforeseen issues. In this paper, I consider the particular niche of emergency situations, and focus in the Asia-Pacific region as a case study, given its continuous exposure to large scale natural shocks. I discuss mechanisms adopted by different cities, and classify their use of digital technologies along a continuum between fragility to stressors, at one end, and promoting antifragility, at the other. Through the analysis of those examples, I argue for design guidelines that promote urban antifragility by developing middle-out networks of support within and between communities, able not only to be well prepared for emergency scenarios, but also to grow more resilient with them.