The Role of Sustainable Infrastructure in Resilient City Production

Abstract

Currently 54% of the world's population lives in cities and this rate is expected to reach 66% in 2050. These enormous numbers of people may face various kinds of risks if their cities exposed to natural or human disasters. This requires taking the necessary measures to preserve their lives and properties, through special planning and design measures related to city's infrastructures and buildings to increase their abilities to withstand threats and raise cites potentials to protect the city and its inhabitants from hurt and damage, or at least minimize them. As the majority of the city's components, whether infrastructure or built environment, are rigid components and do not have the flexibility to cope with any kind of disasters, therefore it is necessary to look for new type of infrastructure and buildings that are flexible and capable to face risks. Here appears the general research problem related to city weakness and its inability to cope with risks. And the special research problem concerning the need to shift to a new type of city called the resilient city. And how this shift can take place? And what are its requirements? The aim of the research is to identify resilient city elements like resilient infrastructure that are capable to resist expected or unexpected environmental conditions especially rainstorm. The hypothesis of the research is that designed sustainable infrastructures are capable to resist environmental hazards and will help to produce the resilient city.

Keywords: Resilient city, Sustainable drainage infrastructure, urban floods.