Resilience Scanner

City Resilience Index Monitoring Framework

Solution Overview

The City of New Orleans piloted the City Resilience Index (CRI) to serve as a holistic framework for monitoring across sectors and scales.[3][6][7] This monitoring system was developed by Arup with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and provides a universal framework for cities to measure and monitor the multiple factors that contribute to their resilience.[1] The approach is structured around four dimensions, 12 goals and 52 indicators, and is underpinned by a qualitative scoring methodology that enables cities to assess their resilience and develop a robust evidence base to support investment and programming decisions.[1]

Technical Components

The CRI framework encompasses four core dimensions: Health and Wellbeing, Economy and Society, Infrastructure and Environment, and Leadership and Strategy.[1] This holistic articulation of city resilience operates through 52 indicators distributed across 12 goals, providing comprehensive measurement capabilities.[1] The qualitative scoring methodology embedded within the system enables systematic assessment of resilience factors and supports evidence-based decision-making for investment and programming.[1] New Orleans has been listed among the cities in the Americas where the CRI has been applied, demonstrating its operational deployment.[1]

Implementation Details

The City Resilience Index implementation was established as a supporting action under the 'Launch City Resilience Index' initiative led by the City of New Orleans in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation.[3] Management of the CRI was assigned to the Office of Performance and Accountability (OPA), which oversees the monitoring framework across sectors and scales.[3] As the City moved towards implementation of the resilience strategy, they gained continuing access to a $100 million pool of tools and services from the 100RC network and platform partners.[2] Ongoing updating and monitoring of CRI metrics became part of the City's practice of resilience and plays a critical role in measuring the ultimate impact of New Orleans' resilience building efforts.[3]

Benefits and Impacts

The monitoring framework supports the broader Resilient New Orleans strategy, which is comprised of 41 actions that are ambitious and programmatic, as well as short and long-term goals.[8] This portfolio of policies combines environmental, social, and infrastructure systems to reduce climate risk and socio-economic inequality.[4] The strategy includes a 50% CO2 reduction goal by 2030 with resilient New Orleans.[4] The City proposes to establish a Resilience Center to serve as a central point of coordination for the City's comprehensive resilience strategy and as a hub for resilience innovation and leadership.[5][4] The strategy was developed in partnership with over 350 stakeholders, including representatives from the Foundation for Louisiana, Greater New Orleans Foundation, Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, Neighborhoods Partnership Network, Institute for Women and Ethnic Studies and Broad Community Connections.[2]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

More than a decade after Hurricane Katrina flooded 80% of the city and the homes and businesses of one million people, New Orleans moved forward with its comprehensive strategy to reduce inequality and climate change vulnerability.[4] Climate change is expected to disproportionately affect poor communities, so to increase resiliency, New Orleans is investing in the most vulnerable neighborhoods.[4] The monitoring framework enables systematic tracking of resilience-building efforts across multiple dimensions, supporting evidence-based adaptation planning and investment decisions.[1][3]

Business Analysis

The implementation was led by the city's Chief Resilience Officer with process guidance from 100 Resilient Cities — Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation and HR&A Advisors.[8] The City Resilience Framework (CRF) highlights the interconnectedness of systems in building resilience and guided the Resilient New Orleans strategy development process from the beginning.[8] The strategy is focused on advancing social cohesion and mobility, with more than 52% of black men unemployed or underemployed, and a workforce development program in progress to accompany environmental projects.[4] The $100 million pool of tools and services from the 100RC network and platform partners provides substantial resource support for ongoing implementation and scaling of resilience initiatives.[2]

Sources