National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of ISO 37123:2019.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee SDS/2, Smart and sustainable cities and communitiesSustainable Communities.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 December 2019.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 268, Sustainable cities and communities.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Cities need indicators to establish their baseline, and measure and evaluate their performance. However, existing indicators are often not standardized, consistent or comparable over time or across cities. To address these challenges, a new series of International Standards is being developed to provide standardized indicators that enable a uniform approach to what is measured, and how that measurement is to be undertaken.

The first standard in this series, ISO 37120, has quickly become the international reference point for sustainable city indicators. While ISO 37120 contains a number of indicators of relevance to a city’s resilience planning and assessment, the need for additional indicators for resilient cities has been identified, reflected in this document, as has the need for additional indicators for smart cities, developed in ISO 37122.

A resilient city is able to prepare for, recover from and adapt to shocks and stresses. Cities are increasingly confronted by shocks, including extreme natural or human-made events which result in loss of life and injury, material, economic, and/or environmental losses and impacts. These shocks can include but are not limited to floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, pandemics, chemical spills and explosions, terrorism, power outages, financial crises, cyber-attacks and conflicts. A resilient city is also able to manage and mitigate ongoing human and natural stresses in a city relating to environmental degradation (e.g. poor air and water quality), social inequality (e.g. chronic poverty and housing shortages) and economic instability (e.g. rapid inflation and persistent unemployment) that cause persistent negative impacts in a city.

A city’s preparedness can be characterized by developing a detailed understanding of the risks to the city, by taking action to reduce vulnerability and exposure, and by enhancing the awareness and participation of individuals, households and businesses.

A resilient city is able to recover from shocks and stresses in a timely and efficient manner, with a focus on ensuring the continuity or rapid restoration of city services such as electricity, water, telecommunications, waste management, sanitation, food distribution, financial services and access to emergency services.

A resilient city is also a city that understands the necessity to adapt its systems and processes to ensure that they are as robust as possible in the face of shocks and stresses, building back better following extreme events, while focusing on the goal of restoring and ensuring long-term prosperity.

Resilience is both a core component and an essential enabler of sustainable development. This document is focused on resilience measurement as a major contribution to the sustainability of a city. The structure of the family of city indicators standards for sustainable cities and communities reflects this relationship between sustainable development, resilient development and smart development (see Figure 1).

Progress and transformation towards sustainable development through maintaining and improving city services and quality of life in the face of shocks and stresses is a core component of a resilient city. This document is therefore intended to be implemented in conjunction with ISO 37120.

The indicators in this document have been selected to make reporting as simple and inexpensive as possible, and therefore reflect an initial platform for reporting. The indicators have been developed to help cities:

prepare for, recover from and adapt to shocks and stresses;
learn from one another by allowing comparison across a wide range of performance measures, and by sharing good practices.

The indicators in this document can be used to track and monitor progress towards a resilient city, through the development of a city resilience strategy or when applying a city management system such as ISO 37101. While the indicators are structured around ISO themes that correspond to different sectors and services provided by cities, it is noted that the indicators can also be organized according to the risk management process (Annex B), the disaster management process (Annex C), the Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Annex D) and the ISO 37101 issues and purposes (Annex E). Furthermore, the typologies of hazards (Annex A) can assist cities in identifying the potential hazards that they face, which is relevant to many of the indicators contained in this document. It is also provided as a guide for helping identify peer cities facing similar hazards.

This document will support any and all global agreements that support sustainability and resilience. Agreements currently in place include, but are not limited to: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction^[²²^], the New Urban Agenda, the 2030 Agenda (i.e. the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals^[²⁷^]) and the Paris Agreement.

A city which conforms to this document does so in regard to measurement of indicators for city resilience in conformity with the definitions and methodologies as set out in this document, and may only claim conformity to that effect. This document does not provide a value judgement, threshold or target numerical value for the indicators, therefore conformity with this document does not confer a status in this regard.

It is acknowledged that cities may not have direct influence or control over factors governing some of these indicators, but the reporting is important for meaningful comparison and provides a general indication of resilience.

In this document, the following verbal forms are used:

“shall” indicates a requirement;
“should” indicates a recommendation;
“may” indicates a permission;
“can” indicates a possibility or a capability.

The terminology used within this document is outlined in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Terminology Document, available at https://www.preventionweb.net/files/50683_oiewgreportenglish.pdf

1 Scope

This document defines and establishes definitions and methodologies for a set of indicators on resilience in cities.

This document is applicable to any city, municipality or local government that undertakes to measure its performance in a comparable and verifiable manner, irrespective of size or location. Maintaining, enhancing and accelerating progress towards improved city services and quality of life is fundamental to the definition of a resilient city, so this document is intended to be implemented in conjunction with ISO 37120.

This document follows the principles set out in ISO 37101, and can be used in conjunction with this and other strategic frameworks.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 City indicators

5 Economy

5.1 Historical disaster losses as a percentage of city product

5.2 Average annual disaster loss as a percentage of city product

5.3 Percentage of properties with insurance coverage for high-risk hazards

5.4 Percentage of total insured value to total value at risk within the city

5.5 Employment concentration

5.6 Percentage of the workforce in informal employment

5.7 Average household disposable income

6 Education

6.1 Percentage of schools that teach emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction

6.2 Percentage of population trained in emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction

6.3 Percentage of emergency preparedness publications provided in alternative languages

6.4 Educational disruption

7 Energy

7.1 Number of different electricity sources providing at least 5 % of total energy supply capacity

7.2 Electricity supply capacity as a percentage of peak electricity demand

7.3 Percentage of critical facilities served by off-grid energy services

8 Environment and climate change

8.1 Magnitude of urban heat island effects (atmospheric)

8.2 Percentage of natural areas within the city that have undergone ecological evaluation for their protective services

8.3 Territory undergoing ecosystem restoration as a percentage of total city area

8.4 Annual frequency of extreme rainfall events

8.5 Annual frequency of extreme heat events

8.6 Annual frequency of extreme cold events

8.7 Annual frequency of flood events

8.8 Percentage of city land area covered by tree canopy

8.9 Percentage of city surface area covered with high-albedo materials contributing to the mitigation of urban heat islands

9 Finance

9.1 Annual expenditure on upgrades and maintenance of city service assets as a percentage of total city budget

9.2 Annual expenditure on upgrades and maintenance of storm water infrastructure as a percentage of total city budget

9.3 Annual expenditure allocated to ecosystem restoration in the city’s territory as a percentage of total city budget

9.4 Annual expenditure on green and blue infrastructure as a percentage of total city budget

9.5 Annual expenditure on emergency management planning as a percentage of total city budget

9.6 Annual expenditure on social and community services as a percentage of total city budget

9.7 Total allocation of disaster reserve funds as a percentage of total city budget

10 Governance

10.1 Frequency with which disaster-management plans are updated

10.2 Percentage of essential city services covered by a documented continuity plan

10.3 Percentage of city electronic data with secure and remote back-up storage

10.4 Percentage of public meetings dedicated to resilience in the city

10.5 Number of intergovernmental agreements dedicated to planning for shocks as percentage of total intergovernmental agreements

10.6 Percentage of essential service providers that have a documented business continuity plan

11 Health

11.1 Percentage of hospitals equipped with back-up electricity supply

11.2 Percentage of population with basic health insurance

11.3 Percentage of population that is fully immunized

11.4 Number of infectious disease outbreaks per year

12 Housing

12.1 Capacity of designated emergency shelters per 100 000 population

12.2 Percentage of buildings structurally vulnerable to high-risk hazards

12.3 Percentage of residential buildings not in conformity with building codes and standards

12.4 Percentage of damaged infrastructure that was “built back better” after a disaster

12.5 Annual number of residential properties flooded as a percentage of total residential properties in the city

12.6 Percentage of residential properties located in high-risk zones

13 Population and social conditions

13.1 Vulnerable population as a percentage of city population

13.2 Percentage of population enrolled in social assistance programmes

13.3 Percentage of population at high risk from natural hazards

13.4 Percentage of neighbourhoods with regular and open neighbourhood association meetings

13.5 Annual percentage of the city population directly affected by natural hazards

14 Recreation

15 Safety

15.1 Percentage of city population covered by multi-hazard early warning system

15.2 Percentage of emergency responders who have received disaster response training

15.3 Percentage of local hazard warnings issued by national agencies annually that are received in a timely fashion by the city

15.4 Number of hospital beds in the city destroyed or damaged by natural hazards per 100 000 population

16 Solid waste

16.1 Number of active and temporary waste management sites available for debris and rubble per square kilometre

17 Sport and culture

18 Telecommunication

18.1 Percentage of emergency responders in the city equipped with specialized communication technologies able to operate reliably during a disaster event

19 Transportation

19.1 Number of evacuation routes available per 100 000 population

20 Urban/local agriculture and food security

20.1 Percentage of city population that can be served by city food reserves for 72 hours in an emergency

20.2 Percentage of the city’s population living within one kilometre of a grocery store

21 Urban planning

21.1 Percentage of city area covered by publicly available hazard maps

21.2 Pervious land areas and public space and pavement built with porous, draining materials as a percentage of city land area

21.3 Percentage of city land area in high-risk zones where risk-reduction measures have been implemented

21.4 Percentage of city departments and utility services that conduct risk assessment in their planning and investment

21.5 Annual number of critical infrastructures flooded as a percentage of critical infrastructure in the city

21.6 Annual expenditure on water retention measures as a percentage of city prevention measures budget

22 Wastewater

23 Water

23.1 Number of different sources providing at least 5 % of total water supply capacity

23.2 Percentage of city population that can be supplied with drinking water by alternative methods for 72 hours

24 Reporting and record maintenance

Bibliography

BS ISO 37123:2019

Sustainable cities and communities. Indicators for resilient cities

Current

Published:

31 Dec 2019