Urban River Resilience

Abstract

Urban river resilience involves engineering characteristics including also social and ecological issues. Resilience can be conceptualized as the ability to recover after an impact, returning to conditions prior to the impact or adapting to new conditions. A better understanding of river complexity is necessary for analyzing resilience. The three aspects of urban river resilience can be understood as engineering resilience focuses on maintaining the stability and final efficiency of a system, ecological resilience of a river is characteristic of complex and dynamic living systems, and a socio-ecological resilience requires a transdisciplinary planning including adaptive capacity. Resilience of urban rivers and streams requires a multidisciplinary approach involving architecture, landscape design, hydrology, hydraulics, water chemistry, sociology, legislation, economics, navigation, tourism, fishing, and water sports. Some case studies of Recife City (Brazil) are presented: Capibaribe Park, Parnamirim stream, fisherwomen at Tejipió estuary, Beberibe River. Actions to improve the resilience of urban rivers help to preserve environmental conditions, improve social conditions, and can bring positive aspects to some economic activities such as fishing and tourism. The resilience of urban rivers contributes to improving the resilience of cities.