How cities navigate crisis: A process model for urban resilience development during pandemic

Abstract

The key component of urban resilience is the process through which it develops—an issue explored in this study by creating a process model, using the COVID-19 pandemic crisis as the context. To trace how cities navigate crises, a qualitative meta-analysis of 16 case studies was conducted to identify patterns in urban resilience formation based on the dichotomous structure–actor dimension. The analysis revealed four key patterns: key resilience development, top–down promotion, collaborative governance, and coevolution. Furthermore, the underlying driving forces behind these patterns were examined, leading to the formulation of a new 5W1H framework for analyzing the process of urban resilience development. This study provides a knowledge base for understanding urban resilience from a process perspective, emphasizing that building resilient cities requires locally adapted strategies that foster long-term resilience, not just short-term solutions. In the practice of urban governance, the proposed process model and 5W1H framework can be used as application guides by different actors to fully understand the modules and actions required in the process of planning, designing and building resilient cities.