Over the past two years, The Wilson Center’s Urban Sustainability Laboratory has collaborated with the Korean Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS) to examine policy and practice to build urban resilience in both the United States and Korea. The joint research has explored the intersection of climate change, urbanization and natural disaster, focusing on measures to assess and build regional resilience to flooding.

The work of the joint research is presented in a KRIHS Special Report on Regional Resilience to Flooding Disaster authored by Dr. Han WooSuk, research fellow for Urban Disaster Prevention and Water Resource Research Center in the Urban Research Division of KRIHS, and lead researcher of the joint Wilson Center-KRIHS initiative. The Special Report examines the concept of resilience, considers international frameworks for assessing disaster vulnerability, develops a resilience assessment methodology for application to local government in Korea and outlines recommendations for the incorporation of resilience concepts into urban planning and national policy. A copy of the KRIHS Special Report can be viewed HERE.