The Role and Challenges for Local Governments in Achieving the Resilience of Critical Infrastructure

The availability of robust and resilient infrastructure influences the sustainable and resilient development of cities and territories. This paper examined the role of local governments in addressing resilience of critical infrastructure and the barriers that they face in doing that. It positions the concept of resilient infrastructure within the context of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), and its localization through the Making Cities Resilient Campaign. The paper examines some of the barriers and challenges in updating and/or building resilient infrastructure at the local level. Among the challenges, the paper examines those that derive from interdependencies, ownership complexities, lack of incentives and particularly those that are rising from inadequate powers of local governments. In conclusion, the paper brings all the discussions together to address lessons learned and provide recommendations for local governments to address the challenges to increase the resilience of critical infrastructure in their cities and territories