Avoiding Decline: Fostering Resilience and Sustainability in Midsize Cities

Craig R. Allen, Hannah E. Birge, Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, Rebecca A. Bevans, Jessica L. Burnett, Barbara A. Cosens, Ximing Cai, Ahjond S. Garmestani, Igor Linkov, Elizabeth A. Scott, Mark D. Solomon and Daniel R. Uden
Additional contact information
Craig R. Allen: U.S. Geological Survey, Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
Hannah E. Birge: Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
Shannon Bartelt-Hunt: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
Rebecca A. Bevans: Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
Jessica L. Burnett: Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
Barbara A. Cosens: College of Law, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
Ximing Cai: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Ahjond S. Garmestani: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
Igor Linkov: United States Army Corps of Engineer, Engineer Research and Development Center, Concord, MA 01742, USA
Elizabeth A. Scott: Urban Design Center, University of Idaho, Boise, ID 83702, USA
Mark D. Solomon: Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
Daniel R. Uden: Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 9, 1-24

Abstract: Eighty-five percent of United States citizens live in urban areas. However, research surrounding the resilience and sustainability of complex urban systems focuses largely on coastal megacities (>1 million people). Midsize cities differ from their larger counterparts due to tight urban-rural feedbacks with their immediate natural environments that result from heavy reliance and close management of local ecosystem services. They also may be less path-dependent than larger cities due to shorter average connection length among system components, contributing to higher responsiveness among social, infrastructural, and ecological feedbacks. These distinct midsize city features call for a framework that organizes information and concepts concerning the sustainability of midsize cities specifically. We argue that an integrative approach is necessary to capture properties emergent from the complex interactions of the social, infrastructural, and ecological subsystems that comprise a city system. We suggest approaches to estimate the relative resilience of midsize cities, and include an example assessment to illustrate one such estimation approach. Resilience assessments of a midsize city can be used to examine why some cities end up on sustainable paths while others diverge to unsustainable paths, and which feedbacks may be partially responsible. They also provide insight into how city planners and decision makers can use information about the resilience of midsize cities undergoing growth or shrinkage relative to their larger and smaller counterparts, to transform them into long-term, sustainable social-ecological systems.

Keywords: social-ecological systems; adaptive governance; transformative governance; cross-scale interactions; complexity; ecosystem services; resilience assessment; shrinking cities; urbanization; urban systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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