City Resilience
The 100 Resilient Cities program, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, helped cities around the world strengthen their ability to adapt and thrive in the face of change. Louisville and Minneapolis were among the cities selected to receive funding and technical support through the initiative.
Each participating city worked with a dedicated strategy partner to guide the process. These teams used a shared set of community engagement tools developed for the program, allowing consistency across cities while still supporting local creativity and flexibility. The tools proved effective in diagnosing resilience challenges and identifying local priorities. Examples of these tools are shown below.
The City Resilience Framework
The City Resilience Framework served as a diagnostic tool to help cities evaluate their capacity to withstand and adapt to long term challenges. Developed by Arup in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, the framework provided a research based structure for understanding how social, economic, institutional, and physical systems contribute to urban resilience. Cities including Louisville and Minneapolis used the framework to assess existing conditions, identify gaps, and focus their strategies on areas where action could have the greatest impact.
The framework is organized around four dimensions, twelve drivers, and fifty-one supporting indicators. In practice, these elements were explored through small group workshops where stakeholders evaluated different aspects of resilience using a clear, visual scoring exercise. The results were then combined with other data and community input to identify shared priorities and guide the development of each city’s resilience strategy.
CRF adapted for the City of Louisville’s engagement process
Stakeholders participate in the CRF exercise in Louisville during the Agenda Setting Workshop
The Shocks and Stresses exercise
Resilience planning distinguishes between shocks and stresses. Shocks are sudden events such as extreme weather, while stresses are long term conditions that weaken a city over time. These forces often interact, as shocks tend to intensify the impacts of existing stresses. For example, extreme rainfall can worsen flooding in communities already facing higher levels of poverty or infrastructure vulnerability.
In this exercise, stakeholders were given cards listing common urban shocks and stresses. Shocks were printed on red cards and stresses on blue cards, with additional blank cards available for participants to add local conditions. Participants then placed the cards on a four-quadrant poster to organize and discuss how these challenges affect the city.
High likelihood and high consequence
High likelihood and low consequence
Low likelihood and high consequence
Low likelihood and low consequence
The cards placed in quadrant one reveal the city’s top shocks and stresses.
Stakeholders engaged in the Shocks and Stresses exercise during the Agenda Setting Workshop in Louisville
Louisville’s Resilience Strategy: Shocks and Stresses
Minneapolis Resilience Strategy: Shocks and Stresses