Overview

The 100 Resilient Cities Strategy Partner Programme, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, was established to enhance the resilience of cities around the world, equipping them to handle both acute shocks—such as natural disasters—and chronic stresses, including infrastructure deficits and social inequality. Buro Happold, under the co-leadership of Jochen Rabe, was selected as a strategy partner, working closely with four cities: Tbilisi, Belgrade, Melaka, and Jakarta. The focus of the programme was on building institutional capacity within city governments to create resilient urban governance frameworks.

Approach

In Tiblisi, Jochen Rabe and the Buro Happold team took an integrated and collaborative approach. Recognising that cities function as interconnected systems, not isolated departments, the team facilitated cross-departmental collaboration to develop a cohesive resilience framework. In Tbilisi, this involved engaging a broad range of stakeholders, including city officials, emergency services, social care providers, and infrastructure planners.

Through a series of workshops and consultations, the team mapped out the city’s key vulnerabilities, identifying both immediate risks and long-term stresses. By facilitating dialogue between previously siloed departments, the team enabled Tbilisi to create a unified strategy that addressed both disaster preparedness and the broader socio-economic challenges the city faces. The resilience strategy was designed to help the city mitigate risks, recover more quickly from shocks, and enhance its capacity for sustainable growth.

Outcomes

The project resulted in important outcomes:

Resilience Governance Framework:

A comprehensive resilience strategy was developed, providing Tbilisi with a clear, long-term framework for addressing both acute shocks and chronic urban challenges. This framework serves as a roadmap for implementing actions that will strengthen the city’s ability to withstand and adapt to future crises.

Integrated Systems and Collaborative Governance:

By dismantling traditional silos within the city government, we facilitated collaboration across departments. This led to a governance framework that integrates efforts in disaster preparedness, urban planning, sustainability, and social welfare, ensuring a holistic approach to resilience.

Stakeholder Engagement and Capacity Building:

Our team engaged a wide array of local stakeholders, from government officials to community leaders, ensuring the resilience strategy reflected diverse perspectives. This collaborative approach strengthened the city’s capacity to implement the strategy effectively and sustainably.

Environmental and Social Resilience:

The resilience strategy for Tbilisi addressed both environmental and social vulnerabilities. By focusing on infrastructure improvements alongside community well-being, the plan ensures that Tbilisi is better equipped to adapt to the challenges of the future, from natural disasters to socio-economic changes.

Through Buro Happold’s work with Jochen Rabe’s expertise, Tbilisi now has a robust, adaptable resilience framework. This work has positioned the city to navigate future uncertainties with greater confidence and stability, setting a new standard for resilience in urban governance.

Publication

Client

Rockefeller Foundation - City of Tiblisi

Partner

BuroHappold (project delivered during tenure)

Timeline

2016-2017