This book makes a clear argument: resilience will succeed or fail through governance. Beyond design ambition, this volume confronts how decisions are made, enforced, and contested across institutions, data systems, and socio-ecological realities.
Structured in three parts, the book establishes a progression from governance mechanisms to systemic transformation. From improving informal settlements to integrated smart city frameworks, Part I explores how urban governance is changing, emphasizing the increasing influence of data infrastructures and artificial intelligence on policy, participation, and accountability. In Part II, the focus switches to socio-ecological thinking, which advances frameworks that reposition nature as an active participant in governance. These frameworks range from landscape intelligence and perception-driven decision-making to rights-based methods. Long-term shifts are covered in Part III, with an emphasis on urban systems' strategic reorganization, circularity, and regeneration in response to resource and climate constraints.
The chapters highlight governance inadequacies in a variety of contexts and offer workable strategies that link systemic reform to local realities. The stance is unabashedly straightforward: adaptable, evidence-based, and environmentally grounded governance structures that can not only manage complexity but also transform it are necessary for shaping resilient futures.
