Clarke, Jonathan R. L. (2015) Learning from practice : enhancing the resilience of cities through urban design and planning. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The thesis draws from examples of practice as a means to find new ways of enhancing the resilience of cities through urban design and planning.

Literature reviews of urban design and governance provide the study with a theoretical base, whilst investigations of resilience connect and ground these earlier understandings. Accordingly, urban design is identified as a ‘transdisciplinary space' for an ongoing socio-spatial process, governance provides integration and collaboration, and resilience is increasingly understood as simultaneously a theory, practice and tool for analysing systems response to disruptive challenge. It is thus contended that successful implementation of resilience initiatives requires a ‘joined-up’ approach to design and governance, with decision making enacted in a holistic and integrated manner.

Utilising an inductive, case study based approach, the foundation of the study is the contention that resilience can be enhanced thorough understanding and responding to earlier failures. Drawing from an analysis of urban incident case studies, the concepts of design weakness and maladaptation are used to conceptualise these failures in design, governance and ongoing management. Conversely, there is also consensus that building ‘adaptive capacity’ is another path to enhanced resilience.

A similar rationale was used to consider the Nottingham case study, which revealed the primacy of economic concerns in local decision making with a corresponding failure to consider risks in an integrated manner, underpinned by new policies of rescaling, austerity and ill-considered national policy directives. Further investigation of individual design projects uncovered multiple maladaptations and inadequacies, as well as highlighting the difficulties of implementing institutional changes and the emergence of an ‘implementation gap’ between policy rhetorics and urban design practice.

The study concludes with some wider reflections and principles for ‘resilient urbanism’, whilst an exploration of resilient design implementation outlines an iterative process for more resilient cities through ongoing learning, innovation and transformative practice.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	City planning -- Great Britain, Organizational resilience
Official Date:	2015
Dates:	Date Event 2015 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Coaffee, Jon
Sponsors:	Seventh Framework Programme (European Commission)
Extent:	xiii, 471 pages : illustrations, maps
Language:	eng

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