Examining the Urban Resilience Strategy of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil: A Comparative Assessment of Predominant Sectors Within the Resilient Cities Network

Abstract

Several cities around the world have been developing specific strategic plans to foster urban resilience. These plans, which are known as urban resilience strategies, do not follow a default format; however, they do follow similar patterns when they are designed by cities within a given collaborative network, such as the Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities). This study will identify the predominant sectors considered by the Brazilian city of Salvador’s resilience strategy, based on actions, shocks, and stresses, and will compare these with the sectors considered the most by other cities within the R-Cities. The results demonstrate that when urban resilience increases, the resilience strategies of the cities studied, which include Salvador, place particular importance on the social and urban planning sectors. The predominance of both sectors reveals the importance of maintaining a broad view when developing strategic urban plans and acts as an alert for urban planners on the importance of analyzing urban resilience holistically, beyond building safe infrastructure. In addition, this study will highlight the importance of including resilience as a guiding theme in urban planning agendas and when developing public policies to prevent risk and develop infrastructure plans. All aspects and sectors of social and urban planning that are fundamental to building urban resilience must be involved.