Community-Resilience in the built-up area of city regions – towards a social innovation

Many recent catastrophes have necessitated ever more innovative approaches to prepare for resilient urban areas and city regions. In contrast to sustainability, a more established concept in research on the built environment, resilience refers to how to manage an unsustainable situation at a predominantly local level. While natural hazards, epidemics and armed conflicts make up the core of resilience research, also social hazards require some attention: hitherto the spectre of socioeconomic factors, demographics, and institutions herein can be considered neglected topics (in relative terms). This study deliberates on the current discourse surrounding these matters from a realist perspective. Additionally, it argues for a potential social innovation in the form of a localized, socioeconomic and demographic urban resilience index. The importance of real estate situations within local and regional governance circumstances is highlighted as it is central to the argumentation and proposed research strategy.