Urban-centric resilience in search of theoretical stabilisation? A phased thematic and conceptual review.

Abstract Over the last decades ' resilience ' has particularly arisen as an attractive perspective with respect to cities. As cities continue to expand, their susceptibility to uncertainties and new challenges, such as climate change, has increased, rendering ' urban resilience ' an increasingly favoured concept in the realm of Urban Development, Planning and Management (UDPM). Despite recent reviews, an updated analysis of the concept is required to understand whether there is in fact scientific evidence to support the expansion and favouring of ' urban resilience ' in UDPM. The need to understand how the concept evolved is further emphasised by the need to perceive how the distinct sciences have contributed to its development, and which were the focuses and conceptual underpinnings of such evolution. Thus, the objective of this paper is to provide a broader review of the multidimensional concept of ' urban resilience ', while understanding how distinct research fields have contributed to its inception and expansion, and how distinct conceptualisations of resilience have influenced its evolution. Supported by a bibliometric analysis of urban-centric publications, this paper highlights the recent extensive growth and expanding application of ' urban resilience ' to distinct research fields, as well as an apparent theoretical stabilisation of the concept, which reemphasises the idea of a three-dimensional conceptual resilience perspective in scientific literature: (1) 'engineering', (2) 'ecological', and (3) 'social-ecological resilience'. Consequently, this research emphasises that, if the related conceptual underpinnings are clear, ' urban resilience ' can potentially serve as an ' integrative metaphor ', adapted by diverse stakeholders, to reinforce UDPM initiatives. Highlights • Urban Resilience has been gaining scientific prominence in recent years. • Bibliometric analysis shows increased concept application within and between different fields of science. • Concept use in distinct fields highlights its role as an integrative metaphor. • Literature analysis emphasises that Urban Resilience has evolved thematically. • Urban resilience has evolved conceptually until an apparent theoretical stabilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]