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This Handbook is a resource for enhancing disaster resilience in urban areas. It summarizes the guiding principles, tools and practice in key economic sectors that can facilitate the implementation of resilience concepts into decisions over infrastructure investments and general urban management as integral elements of reducing disaster and climate risks. There are concrete ways to improve the decision-making process to guide cities towards the aspired benefits, and this report guides its readers in finding ways to avoid the mistakes of the past and build resilience into urban management, critical infrastructure investments, disaster and climate risk mitigation measures, stretching across sectors and jurisdiction and reaching all the way to the communities and the most vulnerable.

This report is divided into three major sections designed to give urban planners and practitioners an intuitive and easy way to build elements of resilience into their urban governance and city planning.

· Chapter 1: Principles of Urban Resilience presents key guiding principles for resilient cities in the context of today’s urban development; risk, uncertainty and complexity; disaster risk management; social resilience; land use planning; urban ecosystems; urban upgrading; and incorporating resilience into the project cycle.

· Chapter 2: Tools for Building Resilience focuses on the most common and effective tools and methodologies available and steps in using them. These tools include: risk assessment; risk-based land use planning; urban ecosystem management; urban upgrading; community and stakeholder participation; disaster management systems; data gathering, analysis and application; and risk financing and transfer approaches.

· Chapter 3: The Practice of Urban Resilience provides guidance in identifying, planning and implementing urban investment projects, focusing on three major sectors. Water supply and wastewater systems details the importance of water and sanitation systems, including resilience to flooding – an increasing challenge to cities around the world. Energy and communications focuses on the national and sub-national energy systems. Transportation Systems discusses road, rail, air transportation, and how to enhance disaster resilience in these systems.