Urban Resilience: Walls, Disasters, and Planning

From ancient city walls to modern flood barriers, urban resilience has always been shaped by fear, risk, and adaptation. Cities today face a widening spectrum of threats—from terrorism and internal conflict to rising seas and unpredictable natural disasters—often responding with hardened infrastructure and defensive design. In this episode, we explore how these strategies can deepen division and overlook the social vulnerabilities that make disasters deadlier for the poor, and why planners are rethinking resilience beyond concrete and steel. By turning to local knowledge, community power, and small-scale solutions, the story argues that the most durable cities are not those that wall themselves off, but those that learn to adapt together.Abbott, Carl, 'Unnatural disasters and resilient cities', City Planning: A Very Short Introduction, Very Short Introductions (New York, 2020; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Oct. 2020), https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780190944346.003.0008