Resilient Communities Across Geographies - by Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg & Steven J Steinberg (Paperback)

About the Book

A hybrid of theory and action, Resilient Communities across Geographies uses case studies to examine how global communities use GIS analysis, local knowledge, and engagement to realize resilience.

Book Synopsis

What makes a community resilient? How do we ensure its sustainable future?

Resilience--the unique ability to positively adapt to changing physical and social environments--is essential for populations of all sizes and locales in today's world of unexpected changes and increasing instances of environmental change. Communities around the globe possess unique combinations of culture, skills, and abilities in context of unique built and natural environments. Identifying and mapping community strengths and resources facilitates effective planning for where and how to focus and manage their unique cultures and characteristics.

Resilient Communities across Geographies is a collection of case studies examining the application of geographic information systems (GIS) to environmental and socioeconomic challenges for analysis, planning, and, ultimately, more resilient communities. Each chapter discusses a spatially driven approach to challenges in geography, social sciences, landscape architecture, urban planning, environmental studies, sociology, economics, migration, community development, meteorology, oceanography, and other fields.

Examples explore both the natural and cultural contexts of climate adaptation in built environments and cultural impacts in a diversity of communities. These include the Martu people of Australia, First Nation youth in Canada, and cultural diversity of indigenous Los Angeles to California farmworkers facing exposure to agricultural chemicals in their communities. Each example applies powerful GIS tools and analysis to document, support, and assess resilience across these unique geographies while recognizing the value and strength which lies in the diversity of the people who live there.

The stories shared within Resilient Communities across Geographies help readers develop an expanded sense of the power of spatial thinking, local knowledge, and engagement to address the difficult problems we collectively face in various locales.

Edited by the authors of GIS Research Methods with a foreword by Esri Chief Medical Officer Este Geraghty.

From the Back Cover

What makes a community resilient? How do we ensure its sustainable future?

Resilience--the keen ability to adapt to changing physical environments--is essential for populations of all sizes and locales in today's world of unexpected changes. Resilience is not only an ideal; it is something that can be achieved through intelligent planning and assessment. With myriad technologies available, how does a community identify which to invest in and utilize for its greater good?

Resilient Communities across Geographies is a collection of case studies examining the application of geographic information systems (GIS) to environmental and socioeconomic challenges for analysis, planning, and, ultimately, more resilient communities. Each chapter discusses a spatially driven approach to challenges in geography, social sciences, landscape architecture, urban and rural sociology, economics, and other fields. This collection of community resilience efforts includes contexts across urban and rural regions, coastal and mountainous areas, indigenous lands in the United States and Australia, and more.

The stories shared within Resilient Communities across Geographies help readers develop an expanded sense of the power of spatial thinking and GIS to address the difficult problems we collectively face in various locations and contexts.

Edited by the authors of GIS Research Methods with a foreword by Esri Chief Medical Officer Este Geraghty.