Building for tomorrow

As urban populations grow, cities are entering an era of increasing uncertainty. Rapid change is placing new pressures on urban areas, making it increasingly difficult to anticipate and prepare for future disruption.

The consequences can extend well beyond individual events, affecting economic stability and the well-being of communities. At the same time, growing demands on infrastructure and resources are challenging cities to rethink how they prepare for the future.

Building resilient cities means looking beyond how they perform under normal conditions. It means creating places that can adapt when circumstances change, remain capable of responding to disruption and continue to support the people who live and work in them, whatever the future brings.

Investing in resilience is not simply about mitigating risk but an opportunity to strengthen local economies, create healthier and more connected communities, encourage innovation and cultivate the capacity to adapt, thrive and prosper as conditions continue to change.

The importance of building resilience is reflected in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with Goal 11 calling for cities and human settlements to be inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

What makes a resilient community?

Resilience starts with sustainable foundations. A resilient city needs infrastructure that can withstand disruptions while reducing the impact of climate change.

Renewable energy such as solar and hydropower, and energy-efficient systems like smart energy management, can help cities reduce emissions and may make them less vulnerable to price volatility and disruptions to centralised energy systems.

Whole-life carbon management can help ensure that decisions made during planning and construction support longer-term net-zero ambitions.

Resilience also means rethinking how resources are used. Traditional construction often follows a linear take-make-waste model, consuming finite resources and generating significant waste.

Circular approaches instead consider how buildings and infrastructure can be designed for adaptability, repair, reuse and longer lifecycles.

Standards help organisations embed circular economy principles while responsible sourcing and the use of lower-carbon and recycled materials can support wider environmental objectives.

Climate resilience extends beyond carbon reduction. Cities also need to prepare for pressures on water, food and other essential resources.

Extreme weather can create significant social and economic costs by disrupting services and damaging buildings.

Flood-resistant design and sustainable land use can help communities prepare for these risks while also improving environmental quality. Urban green spaces strengthen resilience by helping to reduce temperatures, particularly in areas where buildings and paved surfaces absorb and retain heat.

Technology is moving from being a supporting tool to becoming a critical enabler of community resilience. Smart water metering, for example, can provide better visibility of consumption and support more efficient resource management.

Circular approaches including water reuse can further reduce pressure on increasingly constrained resources.

Environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 provide organisations with a structured approach to measuring and continually improving their environmental performance.

For individual buildings and assets, standards and certification can also assure that products and systems have been independently assessed against recognised frameworks.

Making cities smarter

Digital technologies are changing how infrastructure is designed, operated and maintained. Artificial intelligence (AI), Building Information Modelling (BIM), Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and Digital Twins can provide organisations with greater visibility of assets and enable more informed decisions across their lifecycle.

AI, for example, can support applications like predictive maintenance and traffic management, helping infrastructure operators identify potential problems and respond before they escalate. However, greater connectivity also brings new risks, particularly around cybersecurity and the responsible use of data.

BIM and Digital Twins offer complementary opportunities. BIM can support collaboration during the design and construction of an asset while Digital Twins can use real-time information to help manage and optimise buildings and infrastructure throughout their operational life.

The ultimate opportunity is to move towards connected systems in which data from infrastructure and the natural environment can be brought together to help cities understand what is happening, anticipate change and intervene more effectively.

Designing cities around people

At the heart of every community are the people who live and work there.

Social resilience depends on creating environments where people can access essential services and maintain their health and well-being whilst participating fully in community life.

Accessible neighbourhoods, safe public transport, accessible housing and nearby amenities all help ensure that people of different ages and abilities can enjoy their communities independently.

The design of buildings has an important role to play. Natural light, good indoor air quality, reduced noise and access to natural environments can contribute to healthier and more productive spaces. Biophilic design seeks to strengthen connections between people and nature, supporting physical and mental well-being.

But resilience also requires communities and organisations to be able to adapt as people’s needs change. Inclusive service design and effective innovation can help ensure that services remain relevant and accessible as demographics and ways of living evolve.

Turning resilience into action

The scale and complexity of these challenges can make resilience difficult to achieve consistently. Cities bring together governments, infrastructure providers, developers, businesses, communities and many other stakeholders, each with different priorities and responsibilities.

For city leaders, the challenge is not simply identifying the next risk. It is creating the capability to respond to whatever comes next. Organisations that embed resilience into decision-making today are likely to be better positioned to manage uncertainty, protect services and deliver long-term value for citizens.

And standards provide a common framework that helps bring these stakeholders together around shared objectives. Rather than relying on individual initiatives, standards provide a structured approach to managing risk and measuring progress.

Certification provides independent verification that defined requirements have been met.

This can strengthen stakeholder confidence and accountability while supporting investment in resilient infrastructure.

For those wanting to take their certification to the next level, the BSI Kitemark for Smart Cities and Communities is designed to provide a practical framework for cities and communities seeking to turn their smart city ambitions into an operating model.

It takes a citizen-centric approach to how a city is designed and managed, helping organisations translate strategy and policies into action while creating a basis for measuring progress and driving continual improvement.

Resilient cities aren’t simply imagined; they’re built through countless decisions made across society. Those decisions need to balance immediate priorities with long-term outcomes.

The cities that thrive in the decades ahead will not necessarily be those that can predict every challenge. They will be those designed to adapt when the unexpected happens.

By taking a coordinated approach to infrastructure, resources, technology and governance, communities can become better equipped not only to withstand disruption but to keep evolving through it. Resilience, in other words, is not a destination. It is an ongoing capability and building that capability today can help create cities that are fit for tomorrow.

Jonathan Breton is the built environment global director at the United Kingdom’s British Standards Institution (BSI), a body that creates technical standards and provides knowledge solutions, assurance, regulatory and consultation services.