Plug Pulled on the 100 Resilient Cities Program

The largest privately funded climate-adaptation program in the United States, 100 Resilient Cities, will conclude in July.

2 minute read

April 2, 2019, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Staten Island Sandy Damage

Damages on Staten Island after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. | Andrei Orlov / Shutterstock

Late last week, reports that the Rockefeller Foundation would end its groundbreaking climate resilience program, 100 Resilient Cities, caught the climate change advocacy community by surprise.

Christopher Flavelle wrote on March 28 to break the news of the program's impending doom, also explaining how the 100 Resilient Cities program works and where in the United States funding had been allocated "to hire 'chief resilience officers'" and grant "access to the organization’s staff and external consultants, as well as to a global network of cities trying to grapple with similar problems."

Twenty-four large and medium U.S. cities use the program, among them some of those most exposed to hurricanes and rising seas, including New Orleans, Houston, Seattle and Norfolk, Virginia. But the initiative also drew in cities far from the coast, such as Tulsa, Oklahoma; Louisville, Kentucky; Pittsburgh and St. Louis -- places contending with other types of extreme weather, like flooding and heat waves.

The initiative’s approach is to define resilience broadly, in a way that incorporates the social and economic challenges likely to amplify the physical shocks of natural disasters. That approach matches the overlapping risks associated with climate change.

Analysis by the Urban Institute, completed in 2018, found the program to be mostly effective.

In the process of breaking the news, Flavelle also speculated that the program's demise might be connected to leadership change at the Foundation. 

Flavelle also published a follow up article confirming the news on April 1, 2019, adding additional details about the future of the Rockfeller Foundation's climate change work.

Rockefeller will shift some of its resilience funding to the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, with a $30 million grant to the council’s Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience, the foundation said in a press release. Rockefeller also announced a $12 million grant “to allow continued support and transition time to the 100 Resilient Cities network through much of 2019.”

A Rockefeller Foundation spokesperson, Matt Herrick, is quoted in the article saying the 100 Resilient Cities program ended because it had achieved most of its goals.

A separate article by Eillie Anzilotti expands on the implications of the decision, describing the end of the program as a "blow" to the evolving field of sustainability and resilience.

Monday, April 1, 2019 in Bloomberg

Black and white Rideshare Pick-Up Zone sign

The Slow Death of Ride Sharing

From the beginning, TNCs like Lyft and Uber touted shared rides as their key product. Now, Lyft is ending the practice.

June 1, 2023 - Human Transit

Urban sidewalk shaded by large mature trees

Cool Walkability Planning

Shadeways (covered sidewalks) and pedways (enclosed, climate controlled walkways) can provide comfortable walkability in hot climates. The Cool Walkshed Index can help plan these facilities.

June 1, 2023 - Todd Litman

Traffic on the 405 interstate freeway through the Sepulveda Pass at Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles, California

Congestion Pricing Could Be Coming to L.A.

The infamously car-centric city is weighing a proposed congestion pricing pilot program to reduce traffic and encourage public transit use.

May 30, 2023 - Los Angeles Times

Two blue and white tents on a paved bike trail under an overpass in San Diego, California with palm tree and vegetation on one side

How San Diego Camping Ban Could Impact Neighborhoods

An ordinance supported by the city’s mayor would bar people from sleeping on the street near shelters or services, but critics say it will simply push people to other neighborhoods and put them farther away from the supportive services they need.

June 8 - Voice of San Diego

Small white one-story building with Maggie Hathaway Golf Course sign with American flag on flagpole and green lawn

Expanding Access to Golf in South Los Angeles

L.A. County’s Maggie Hathaway Golf Course getting up to $15 Million from U.S. Open Community Legacy Project to expand access to the sport in South L.A.

June 8 - Los Angeles Times

Wood-frame two-story housing under construction

Opinion: Failed Housing Bills Could Signal California-Style Housing Crisis in Texas

Legislators in a state that so often touts its policies as the opposite of California’s defeated several bills that would have made housing construction easier, leading to concerns that a constricted housing market may exacerbate the housing crisis.

June 8 - The Dallas Morning News

Principal Planner – Advanced Plans

Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning Department

Planning Officer

City of Bangor

Planning Director

Park City Municipal Corporation

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.