Urban Resilience: How Asia's Cities Bounce Back
A joint series from Asia Society Switzerland and Swiss Re Institute
Workers building dams against floods in Bangkok, Thailand / Photo: Remko Tanis
Asia is urbanizing at a breath-taking speed. Of the 47 cities in the world that are defined as ‘megacities’, two-thirds are in Asia. The 2.3 billion city-dwellers in the Asia-Pacific are a majority over the rural population. Fastest urban population growth is set to occur in the secondary cities of Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
As these cities are growing, they face multiple challenges at once. Their governments need to manage housing and infrastructure for the millions of new residents. They also have to expand the preparedness of their cities for both slow-moving crises, such as climate change, gridlocked infrastructure, and pandemics, and for sudden disasters as earthquakes, floods, and major power outages.
In two events, Asia Society Switzerland and Swiss Re Institute explore how some of the largest cities in the region are building their resilience. We will explore what the different approaches are that make cities resilient, share best practices we can learn from, and explore the relation between political systems and the level of resilience of cities.
Both events will be held as hybrid events, taking place in the beautiful auditorium at Swiss Re Next in Zurich, as well as online via Microsoft Teams.
EVENT 1
ASIA'S CITIES UNDER SLOW-MOVING THREATS
Tuesday, September 13, 2022 / 08:30-11:00 CEST
The first event, on Sep 13, will focus on what makes a city resilient in the face of slow-moving but real stresses that are crucial to address for a city to thrive in the long-term. Supachai Tantikom, until recently the Chief Resilience Officer for Bangkok, will share his experiences from the ground. Jonas Jörin, co-director of the Future Resilient Systems programme of the Singapore-ETH Centre, will show what challenges cities face in managing resilience. And Debjani Bhattacharyya will put urban resilience in a broader context of societies as a whole.
EVENT 2
HOW ASIA'S CITIES BOUNCE BACK FROM SUDDEN DISASTERS
Tuesday, October 4, 2022 / 08:30-11:00 CEST
The second event, on Oct 4, looks at ways in which fast-growing megacities can bounce back from sudden disasters by preparing for them ahead of time. It will feature award-winning architect, urban planner, and social researcher Arif Hasan from Karachi, Pakistan; Madhu Raghunath, an expert in disaster risk management covering several countries in Southeast Asia for the World Bank; and David Lallemant, who will speak about managing growing risk and recovering stronger from disaster.