GREEN & BLUE INFRASTRUCTURE
WHAT IS RESILIENCE ?
Resilience is a current “ buzzword ”, particularly in relation to our urban spaces and infrastructure , but what does it mean ? What defines resilience ? Who defines resilience ? And more importantly , what can every one of us do to encourage resilience ? The Oxford Dictionary defines resilience as :
“ The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties ; toughness ” and “ the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape ; elasticity ”.
So , what does that mean ?
GreenBlue Urban believe that resilience as in urban resilience must be designed at an early stage . Whilst some projects may be resilient “ by mistake ”, it is more successful if we all try to make sure that any changes that we make in our urban areas are designed with future changes in mind .
None of us has access to a crystal ball , but thankfully there has been huge progress in future forecasting for urban areas . Not only how we are going to use our public realm , but what the challenges are likely to be . Climate change is , of course , top of the list , but there are other potential issues that need consideration . Changing demographics , changing transport modes and even long-term health problems mean that we must try to plan .
By 2050 , estimates predict that 70 % or more of the population will live in cities . 60 % of new urban settlements are yet to be built !
Humans are remarkably resilient – over millennia we have adapted to changing circumstances and climates . Often these changes have been forced upon us , and adaptation is necessary for survival . With modern technology , we can predict some of the changes , but COVID-19 has shown us that we cannot fully guarantee what will happen in the future . The ability to understand the past , and plan is unique to humanity , so we are responsible to harness this ability to provide for future generations .
What does this have to do with GreenBlue Urban ? GreenBlue Urban has always promoted the dictum of “ every tree should have the same opportunity to attain species potential longevity ”
Some of the most resilient cities in the world also have high canopy levels having successfully used the GreenBlue ArboSystem Tree Pit Systems – resilience and canopy cover seem to be closely correlated : Vancouver , Toronto and Boston are all in the top 12 of both . Therefore , it is vital that we understand that if we are to retain our critical canopy cover , we must plant trees in such a way that they can attain maturity . Our ancestors used trees as shelter , fuel , medicine , and many other uses ; we don ’ t need trees for these uses now in the same way , but maybe we don ’ t realise what other benefits our urban canopy does for us .
There are many deserted cities and ghost towns across the world , abandoned for many reasons : economic downturns , natural or man-made disasters , wars or being by-passes as transport links . However , some towns have become uninhabitable due to climate change – removal of vegetation leading to extreme heat stress . Therefore , if we are creating places where we can “ bounce back better ” from future urban challenges , we need to plant sustainably to help with urban resilience for future generations .
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