Identifying Resilience Dimensions and its Impact on Urban Sustainability of Rasht City

Cities will have accommodated most of the people around the world in the future. Therefore, the focus of managers should be on making these places more sustainable and resilient. Urban resilience is a concept that has recently been considered by urban planners and managers around the world. This has been a key concept in response to natural disasters and socio-political crises. The purpose of this study is to identify the dimensions of urban resilience and their relationship with urban sustainability in Rasht. The research method is descriptive-analytical. Besides, it is a kind of applied research in which data has been gathered by the methods like the documentation and surveying. The statistical sample of the research consisted of 35 experts familiar with the subject of the research who were selected by Delphi method and reached consensus on the research questions in three stages. Data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL software. To determine the validity of the items, a first-order confirmatory factor analysis model was used and Cronbach's alpha test was used to assess its reliability. Model results and standardized coefficient measurements indicate the correlation between the present variables and the corresponding indices. The findings from confirmatory path analysis (structural model) show that social resilience (Beta = 0.87 T 0.87), economic resilience (T = 5.62 eta Beta 0.84), resilience Environmental-physical (T = 9.78 eta Beta = 0.85) and institutional resiliency (T = 8.17 eta Beta = 0.85) affect urban sustainability. Therefore, it is concluded that urban resilience can be considered as the foundation of urban sustainability and paying attention to the benefits of urban resilience in strengthening sustainable urban systems is a vital factor in achieving a desirable urban future.
Extended Abstract
1-Introduction
The concept of resilience, in the face of political, socio-economic and environmental disadvantages, has attracted the attention of academic communities and decision makers. Resilience has become an important goal for cities, especially in the face of climate change. Although resiliency has recently been added to the suite of planner arguments, it is not a new concept. The Latin root of resilience goes back to the word 'Resi-lire' which means leaping backwards. For the first time, resilience was used in the physical sciences to identify elastic properties and to describe the stability of materials and their resistance to external shocks. In the 1960s, with the rise of systemic thinking, resilience entered the field of ecology and urban planning. The appearance of resilience, signifies the ability to change to protect and preserve the character of the urban system.
2-Materials and Methods
This study aimed to identify the factors affecting urban resilience and its relationship with urban sustainability in Rasht. Documentation and survey methods have been used for this purpose. Questionnaire distribution method is Delphi method. The sample consisted of 35 senior experts familiar with the subject. Factors affecting resilience were identified by documentation studies. They are classified into economic, social, institutional, and environmental categories provided by experts. In this questionnaire, consensus was reached in three stages. Validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis and its reliability was determined by Cronbach's alpha test. SPSS and LISREL were used to analyze the data.
3-Results and Discussion
Sustainability and resilience are two intertwined concepts, both of which are known as the ability of the system (urban, social, and ecological) to provide optimal development paths. The diversity of the relationship between these two concepts has been studied in the literature and sustainability has been introduced as a normative concept for promoting intergenerational justice, however, resilience is viewed as a descriptive concept, desirable and sometimes even undesirable. However, combining aspects of sustainability and resilience provides strategies that enable these two concepts to work at their full capacity: A city without stability cannot be resilient, and vice versa. What is said implies that resilience and sustainability do not necessarily overlap and can only be said to be a prerequisite for each other. The research findings confirm this. The results showed that social resilience (T = 8.19 eta Beta = 0.87), economic resilience (T = 5.62 B Beta 0.84), and physical-environmental resilience (Beta = 0.85 (T = 9.78) and institutional resiliency (Beta = 0.17 = 0.85) affect urban sustainability. Therefore, it is concluded that urban resilience can be considered as the foundation of urban sustainability. What the authors emphasize in this study is that resilience can be considered as one of the pillars of urban sustainability as a strategy to reshape urban areas from environmental crises and hazards.
4-Conclusion
The city is the product of human effort as a complex social ecological system. As urban planners and executives and other urban area researchers move to a new world of processes in the globalization process, urban paradigms move towards urban resilience and sustainability in times of environmental hazards. In a rational approach, urban resilience and sustainability must be combined. In the view of some scholars, despite the theoretical differences between these two concepts, they can be linked in practice. What is also confirmed in this study is that there is a significant positive relationship between resilience and urban sustainability dimensions. Resilience in social, economic, environmental, physical, and institutional dimensions will move towards urban sustainability when it comes to indicators of participation, environmental justice, equality of education and other influential elements. Besides, Resilience can be seen as one of the cornerstones of sustainability, which is a necessary but not sufficient condition for sustainability. The authors have attempted to study the relationship between resilience and urban sustainability, apart from theoretical and empirical differences. It is clear that these concepts cannot be used interchangeably, but rather that they are cross-sectional and inter-conceptual. Based on the results, it can be said that paying attention to the benefits of urban resilience in strengthening sustainable urban systems is a critical factor in achieving a desirable urban future.