To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the Rockefeller Foundation is kicking off a three-year worldwide competition to select 100 cities to receive training and support to boost their resilience.
It turns out the sustainability trend isn't so sustainable, says Emily Badger. "The new goal is now something more like "resiliency." This updated rallying cry takes as a given that some pretty bad things will inevitably happen: Cities will flood, and diseases will spread, and whole transportation networks will shut down. But now the mark of a competent city is this: How quickly can it bounce back?"
"The Rockefeller Foundation, this year celebrating its 100th anniversary, is throwing its weight (and its money) behind this mandate," she explains. "Today, it's announcing a 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge, a three-year, $100 million prize with one particularly interesting component: The foundation plans to put up the money to hire a Chief Resilience Officer position in 100 cities around the world. Ultimately, though, these cities will have to scrounge up their own funds to keep the job alive."
Read the full story: Does Every City Need A Chief Resilience Officer?
Op-Ed: Seattle Resilience Roadmap Feels 'Retrospective'
Natalie Bicknell notes several deficiencies in the roadmap that resulted from Seattle's participation in the Rockefeller Foundation's now-defunct 100 Resilient Cities program.
More Detail on What Happened to 100 Resilient Cities
The Rockefeller Foundation has cited costs and a new strategic direction to explain why it abruptly cut off the program this year. While the work may live on in some form, the move underscores the risks of relying on private funding.
New Resilience Center to Replace 100 Resilient Cities
The new Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center will build on the earlier work of the 100 Resilient Cities program.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future
Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.
NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project
New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.
One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing
The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.
Houston gains petal-shaped cooling infrastructure to make streets more ‘delightful’
The city has installed the pavilions along 15 blocks in Houston.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority