Infrastructure Resilience could easily mean different things to different people.  To some ‘Infrastructure’ is all about the Internet, to others it simply means the roads and pipes underground, and to others it includes the entire Built Environment.  In my mind, ‘Infrastructure’ is best described by the built environment, for if vertical structures (buildings etc) were not made, there would be no need for horizontal structures (roads, utilities, etc).   All this infrastructure is created to support community and commercial endeavour.

There is also a close alignment between Infrastructure Resilience and the work of Lifelines committees. ‘The objectives of Lifelines are to reduce infrastructure outage risks and minimise restoration time when outages occur’. New Zealand Lifelines Committee.

Therefore, those things which should be considered as part of any evaluation of infrastructure resilience, are as follows:

• Buildings (safety focus)
• Telecommunications Network (Radio, TV, Telephone, etc)
• Electricity Network (including generation & distribution)
• Water Network (including treatment, storage & distribution)
• Wastewater Network (including collection,  treatment & disposal)
• Petroleum Fuel & Lubricant Network
• Natural Gas Network
• Stormwater / Land Drainage Network
• Road Network
• Rail Network
• Ports (Airport, Shipping Port, Inland Freight Ports)
• Fast Moving Consumer Goods (Food, etc)
• Banking (Access to Cash)

Some items which are towards the bottom of the list are often overlooked, but are of critical importance to support community resilience.  It’s much easier for a community to bounce back from a disaster if they have access to food, cash, and transportation (many people may need to leave for a while).

Please note that the above list does not focus on emergency response, although certainly does apply.

There are many definitions … It is a concept that we all have a notional awareness of what it means, but which we struggle to define with words.  It is often used to describe people, communities, and cities who have the ability to ‘bounce back’ from some disaster or traumatic event – but can also be used for the natural environment, or even the built environment of infrastructure.

In my work, recovering from significant earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, we have defined Infrastructure Resilience here:  ‘Infrastructure Resilience is the ability of a system to withstand or quickly recover from significant disruption’.  While this isn’t a formal policy, it does help capture the essence of what it’s all about.  It could be said that it’s better if things bend, but don’t break; but if it does break – we want it to be easy, cheap and quick to fix.

A few other definitions of ‘Resilience’ that you may be interested in:

‘The ability of a system, entity, community, or person to withstand shocks while still maintaining its essential functions and to recover quickly and effectively.‘ Rockefeller Foundation

‘The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions.’    UNISDR

‘Infrastructure resilience is the ability to reduce the magnitude and/or duration of disruptive events. The effectiveness of a resilient infrastructure or enterprise depends upon its ability to anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and/or rapidly recover from a potentially disruptive event.‘  US Dept. of Homeland Security

‘The ability to survive a crisis and thrive in a world of uncertainty.’  Resilient Organisations

‘The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape (elasticity)‘; OR ‘The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties (toughness).‘ Oxford Dictionary

There are many other definitions, so let me know if you think I should be featuring one that you particularly like.