Comprehensive Resilience Assessment and Obstacle Analysis of Cities Based on the PSR-TOPSIS Model: A Case Study of Jiangsu Cities

Zikai Zhao (), Chao Liu, Wenye Chang and Yangjun Ren
Additional contact information
Zikai Zhao: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Chao Liu: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Wenye Chang: School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
Yangjun Ren: Jiangsu Research Base of Yangtze Institute for Conservation and High-Quality Development, Nanjing 211100, China

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-29

Abstract: As global urbanization accelerates amidst compounding risks, comprehensive urban resilience assessment has emerged as a pivotal issue in optimizing risk governance pathways. Grounded in the Pressure–State–Response (PSR) theoretical framework, this study constructs a multidimensional evaluation system for comprehensive urban resilience. Through the integration of a combined weighting method and the TOPSIS model, we systematically measure resilience levels across 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province, with the obstacle degree model employed to identify critical resilience constraints. The findings reveal significant spatial heterogeneity in regional resilience patterns. High-resilience cities establish positive feedback mechanisms through economic foundations, innovation-driven strategies, and institutional coordination. Conversely, low-resilience cities face multidimensional constraints, including industrial structure imbalance, inadequate social security systems, and infrastructure deficiencies. The resilience disparity stems from the coupling effects of systemic multidimensional elements, with three core obstacles identified: energy consumption and population pressure in the Pressure dimension, medical resource scarcity and innovation deficit in the State dimension, and fiscal expenditure inefficiency in the Response dimension. The study proposes strategic interventions, including fiscal structure optimization, cross-regional resource coordination enhancement, and innovation–translation mechanism improvement, to facilitate urban systems’ transformation from passive resistance to proactive adaptation. This research provides novel perspectives for analyzing complex system resilience evolution and offers scientific grounds for urban agglomeration risk prevention and sustainable development.

Keywords: PSR-TOPSIS model; comprehensive urban resilience; Jiangsu Province; regional disparity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/7/1437/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/7/1437/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:7:p:1437-:d:1697797

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().