Salvador: Profile of a resilient city?

• Published in: Cities 2022-08, Vol.127, p.103727, Article 103727
• Main Authors: de Andrade Silva, Angela Marcia, Lazaro, Lira Luz Benites, Andrade, José Célio Silveira, Monteiro, Bianca Alighieri Luz, Prado, Angélica Fabíola Rodrigues
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 16th century; Cities; Climate change; Environmental aspects; Global south; Inequality; Infrastructure; Mitigation; Policy making; Poverty; Prevention; Resilience; Resilient city approach; Salvador-Bahia-Brazil; Shocks/stresses; Urban inequalities/social vulnerabilities; Urban planning; Urbanization
• ISSN: 0264-2751; 1873-6084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2022.103727

We present how the city of Salvador in Brazil, has applied the resilience approach to its long-term urban planning agenda to both overcome past sequelae and face new challenges such as the increasing urbanization and climate change. Salvador launched its Resilience Strategy, which placed it at the forefront of cities investing in resilience to face their shocks and stresses. Salvador faces various economic and social vulnerabilities, which have been ongoing since the city was established in the 16th century. The lessons learned throughout the city's experience are that resilience plan and climate agendas must be carried out together with adaptation and mitigation actions and include: i) the need to develop a resilience strategy both to ensure disaster risk prevention and address all social and environmental aspects that are fundamental to building a resilient city, especially in contexts of poverty and inequality; ii) the significance of both engaging multiple stakeholders and thinking about inclusive resilience, as a complex and ongoing process of learning. We conclude that urban resilience policies should not only focus on disaster risk prevention by developing brown infrastructure plans but also need to address social and environmental-natural aspects as fundamental to building a resilient city. •The article shows the Salvador city resilience strategy to support the climate agenda.•The city's efforts to incorporate the concept of resilience in local public policies are depicted.•One of the challenges that Salvador's faces is urban inequalities and social vulnerabilities.•The city's resilience and climate agendas must be carried out together with adaptation and mitigation actions.•Urban resilience strategy needs integrate climate agenda and develops adaptation capacity.