In an era rocked by climate change and other disruptions, our cities must be resilient to survive and thrive. But what does that mean, exactly? How can we address the problems facing cities today—poverty, job loss, crumbling infrastructure, pollution—while preparing for an uncertain tomorrow? To help answer those questions, Island Press launched the Urban Resilience Project, with support from The Kresge Foundation and the JPB Foundation. We began by reaching out to a diverse group of thinkers—activists, academics, architects and many others.

If a tree falls in the forest, what does it cost? From the perspective of federal disaster assistance, the answer traditionally has been “not much.” But now — thanks to improved number-crunching — the federal government is taking nature into account when it tallies the cost of disasters.