Considering rapid urbanization trends, population growth, and recently experienced events, Built Environment Systems (BESs) encounter climatic shocks and stresses in different parts of the world. The susceptibility of BESs to uncertain disasters caused by unexpected crises gradually increases as unexpected weather events and changing patterns driven by climate change increase. Although indirect climate change impacts cause a gradual pressure over time on the BESs, the increased likelihood and frequency of extreme weather events, such as rising heatwaves and rain intensity, will require preparedness, immediate response, and risk management plans. As such, the resilience of the BESs against climate change shocks and stresses has increasingly become a concern on the local, national, and global levels. Therefore, there is a need to measure the impact, build coping and adaptive capacities, and improve the functionality of vulnerable systems. In addition, the systems must adopt minimum resilience functioning measures and practices.
This research studies the most common resilience qualities (RQs) that make up the BESs. These qualities include reflectivity (Rf), robustness (Rb), redundancy (Rd), flexibility (Fx), resourcefulness (Rs), rapidity (Rp), inclusivity (Ic), and integration (It). The research also discusses the capacities and dimensions of the BESs and their interrelations. It is a quantitative-based assessment in which two online questionnaire surveys were designed and distributed among respondents from targeted stakeholders. The survey covers many indicators that form the studied RQs. Typically, the questions were about climate change adaptation of BESs, preparedness, degree of resilience, perceived capacities to reduce the potential consequences, and the effect of the current policies, regulations, and standards on the BESs’ resilience.
The analysis shows that no predominant group had a better knowledge of the importance of climate change resilience. The degree of acceptance of the change and uncertainty inherited from the past or generated over time were ranked for the four classified BESs (shelter, life support, movement, and open spaces systems). This research emphasizes the perception that the decision-making domain is crucial for delivering a reflective built environment. Also, features such as advancing public understanding and management tools, reducing economic losses, and developing necessary plans still require improvement. Furthermore, limiting the engagement and participation of relevant stakeholders in organizational activities is not a good option. There is a belief in the importance of the task forces within the community as part of an emergency response plan, and a less-reflective system would have less recovery speed. Therefore, the rapidity characteristic of a built environmental system to accept the change and uncertainty inherited from the past or generated over time is correlated to the system's reflectivity quality.
The outcomes from this research reveal a consensus among the respondents from the three groups that urban governance needs to build transformative capacity to face uncertainty and change, mainly in the built environment systems. Most respondents agree and strongly agree that there must be regulations for providing mandatory emergency resources and supplies in the different built environment systems, mainly those in vulnerable areas. The results showed that the assessment related to enhancing the adaptive capacities of the built environment systems and the relevant tools is insufficient and requires improvement. Reconfigurability and spare capacity should be integrated into all existing systems to avoid disruption based on the risk assessment. At the same time, future assets should be designed to withstand the anticipated impacts. The diverse consultation and engagement of the community are needed to create a sense of mutual ownership regarding the built environment's resilience against climate change. The analysis includes the integrating processes within the city's systems that could allow consistency in promoting decision-making and placing investments.
Overall, the results show that achieving climate change resilience objectives in the BESs is challenging and requires the collaboration of all relevant stakeholders. The research concludes that integrated resilience indicators, planning, and design methodology are crucial for incorporating RQs into a systematic framework that influences the BESs. Finally, the research sets the roadmap for developing a systematic framework to capture the interactions and interconnections of the different resilience qualities from the perspective of relevant stakeholders. The framework will be a good start to developing progressive policies and strategies to formulate the pillars of a resilient built environment, considering the existing physical, social, technological, and economic infrastructure status. Nevertheless, the built environment resilience qualities (BERQs) are still growing, requiring further study to develop plans and policies for effective and timely responses to climate change effects. This research emphasizes the significant correlation between the different RQs traits. It also encourages researchers to formulate more-objective methods to reach a set form for measuring RQs as an engineering standard.
| Date of Award | 2023 |
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| Original language | American English |
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| Awarding Institution | - HBKU College of Science and Engineering
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