Citizen Roles In Resilient Cities

This lecture focuses on the role of citizens in developing cities, and shows that without the right behaviour and an engaged population even with the best infrastructure, cities will not be resilient. Ron Dembo explains how software, targeted incentive schemes and a sharp focus on the demographics of the city can be used to facilitate engagement and highlights examples where a top down drive and a zero tolerance on unsocial behaviour can help cities achieve resilience.When we discuss resilience in cities we usually focus on infrastructure. Little attention is paid to the role citizen engagement and behavior change plays in making cities resilient. In this lecture Ron Dembo argues that without the right behavior and an engaged population, even with the best infrastructure cities will not be resilient. Focusing on how software, targeted incentive schemes and a sharp focus on the demographics of the city can be used to facilitate engagement, it also highlights examples where a top down drive and a zero tolerance on unsocial behavior can help cities achieve resilience. Propositions for addressing the issue: Electricity: run regular “fire drills “ to get the population to be ready for a sharp drop in availability e.g. Fukushima. Institute a single “currency for good” that rewards citizens for socially beneficial behavior.