Exploring the realities of urban resilience: Practitioners’ perspectives

Cities in Sub-Saharan African countries, already vulnerable, are under increasing pressure from the impacts of climate change and its associated risks. Urban resilience has emerged as a development strategy for improving the capacity of urban systems to cope with, withstand, and mitigate the impacts of extreme events in cities. Using a qualitative research approach and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 20 practitioners in Ghana, the study examined practitioner insights into urban resilience and the implications for urban resilience theory and practice. The study identified that practitioners have diverse understandings and views about urban resilience, shaped by their different experiences and priorities. Functional and outcome-oriented urban resilience understanding prioritising physical urban infrastructure dominated urban resilience views among the practitioners. Few practitioners understood urban resilience in social and governance terms that align with transformative urban resilience ideas. The key point for urban resilience planning is that the dominant outcome and functional view that aligns with conservative urban resilience ideas limits opportunities for multi-stakeholder engagement, collaboration, and urban transformation. Therefore, if urban resilience remains an essential goal for urban planning, it should incorporate change, learning, social, and governance ideas because they hold enormous promise for advancing politically feasible and socially equitable urban resilience policies and planning outcomes.