James Bruggers

@jbruggers

Louisville may be able to tap into millions of dollars of free services from some of the world's leading companies or organizations as part of its participation in a network of 100 global cities trying to become more adaptable in the face of serious threats.

But first the city will have to narrow its focus on the problems it will seek to solve.

Among the priorities that made the first cut in a Tuesday workshop: an economic crisis or crash, severe or catastrophic weather, infrastructure failure, poverty, health and education.

Mayor Greg Fischer said he welcomes Louisville's selection by the 100 Resilient Cities group, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York because its definition of resilience incorporates economic and social needs into threats posed by the environment.

"The biggest issue facing every city in the country today is the shrinking middle class," Fischer said. While he ticked off economic gains in Louisville in the last five years — 61,000 new jobs, a sharp drop in unemployment, and billions of dollars in new investment — he said that the economic gains have not been across all neighborhoods.

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Resilience has to do with the ability to survive or bounce back from a disaster, whether a fast-moving shock like a tornado or slower-moving stresses such as poverty, crime or climate change. Speakers from the 100 Resilient Cities group told more than 150 workshop participants that it extends from an individual's or family's flexibility amid stress to the businesses and institutions that comprise a city.

"We attempt to prepare cities for the shocks and stresses that are inventively going to happen," said Eric Wilson, an associate director of 100 Resilient Cities.

Louisville competed with 1,000 cities to be selected and will soon hire a chief resilience officer to advise the mayor through his chief of staff, Ellen Hesen, Fischer said. The group pays for that position for two years, and he or she will be tasked with developing a resilience plan for Louisville.

Workshop participants were privately led through small discussions and voting to focus on Louisville's biggest threats to reach their conclusions.

"The underpinnings of society are fracturing," he said, mentioning civil unrest and riots in other cities over police shootings of African Americans.

"Many people," he said, "feel helpless about a positive future, and we need to ask why is that?"

Otis Rolley, regional director of 100 Resilient Cities, said Louisville is in the third and final grouping of 100 cities, and the first group is just now starting to carry out their plans. Some have begun to tap into a network of businesses, government laboratories, nonprofit groups and scientific societies that have already pledged $200 million of services to the 100-cities network, he said, adding that such support means the outcome won't be another plan that collects dust on a shelf.

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The program has helped New Orleans recover from its devasting 2005 flooding in a way that creates economic development and jobs, while also looking into how zoning affects neighborhood equity concerns, he said.

In Norfolk, Va., participation helped secure a $120 million grant to help the city respond to rising sea levels and subsiding land, said Christine Morris, Norfolk's resilience officer. Old thinking would be to erect a seawall, she said. Instead, she said Norfolk is looking at how to reconfigure neighborhoods and use nature to reduce risk, among other strategies.

"It will be a greener and bluer city," she said.

Reach reporter James Bruggers at (502) 582-4645 and at jbruggers@courier-journal.com.

Top six shocks identified by workgroups:

Economic crisis

Severe or catastrophic weather

Infrastructure vulnerability or failure

Riot or civil unrest

Hazardous materials accident

Cyber attack

Top six stresses identified by workgroups:

Poverty and inequity

Lack of wellbeing and poor health

Low-performing education systems

Aging infrastructure

Racial and lack of social cohesion

Degradation of built and natural environment

Climate change

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