The SECURe framework: an approach to thinking about power and politics when using co-production interventions for urban resilience

More than 50% of the world’s population lives in towns and cities. Urban growth is set to continue, leading to 68% of the global population living in cities by 2050.
Most of this urbanisation is projected to occur in low- and middle-income regions, where high concentrations of vulnerable populations live in neighbourhoods often exposed to climate risks. Enhancing the resilience of cities to the impacts of a changing climate is therefore crucial.
However, urban areas are ‘complex systems’ where diverse individuals, networks and organisations with different visions interact continually. Understanding these dynamics is essential for finding urban resilience interventions that are aligned with the unique characteristics of each city.
This report presents the Strengthening and Enhancing Contextual Urban Resilience (SECURe) approach for achieving this effectively. SECURe lays out an approach for establishing an appropriate entry point for developing urban resilience, analysing the institutional, cultural and environmental context of the city, and then determining the most appropriate type of change that the intervention can effectively achieve.
The approach aims to help achieve more sustainable, equitable and impactful urban resilience interventions. This, in turn, will help ensure that marginalised populations in vulnerable urban contexts are able to not only function, but flourish, despite the impacts of a changing climate.
SECURe was produced through a co-creation process that drew on the work and lessons of over 100 participating organisations across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Cite this publication
Available at https://www.iied.org/22496iied