Page 163 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Demet Gülhan

Urban resilience is usually discussed with the adaptation of climate change
caused by global warming which was brought about the fossil fuel-dependent
life style. It determines the survival of the physical systems in the natural
environment and built environment of the city (such as roads, buildings,
infrastructures, energy facilities, water routes, dams, etc.) during disasters
caused by climate change and global warming and the capacity to maintain
their functions in the face of extreme stress.
Investments in urban areas are extremely important for the next 10
years. This is important not only as it mitigates the potential damage of
climate change, but also as it will prepare cities for the effects of climate
change in the anticipated scenarios. What is meant by investment here is
beyond putting technical solutions to use to protect cities from climate
change, but the meaning also covers the improvement of social capital and
humans, institutional capacity, and cooperation between cities and regions
(Zimmerman, 2010: 4-5).
Jabareen (2013: 222) states that the most fundamental challenge concerning
urban resilience is the difficulties in including the social, cultural, economic
and spatial aspects of cities in the framework of resilience. In this sense, the
main topic of this essay is the link between architecture and resilience in terms
of design and planning, and the contribution of architecture and architectural
structures formed throughout history to urban resilience.

c. The Concept of Resilience in Architecture

An indispensable part of cities, architectural structures are thought to be one
of the elements that determine urban resilience with all their infrastructure and
superstructure components. Resilience in architecture means the capacity of
a structure or a system to withstand expected shocks. Designing eco-friendly,
sustainable and more resilient structures in the face of the important issues
of our world, global warming and climate change, has become the priority of
architects. To increase the resilience of structures against unexpected natural
environments (like earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, landslides, etc.) and issues
like terrorism and wars, all planning principles and building codes should be
revised for new buildings, starting with the choice of location (Gülhan, 2022).
The US National Infrastructure Commission summarizes the resilience
criteria in buildings under four main headings (Aktaran; Lfarakh, 2021: 8-9):
1. Durability: The capacity of a building to maintain its functions
after exposure to external impact (this involves building design and
strong material qualities)

149 Journal of Environment, Urbanization and Climate