Resilience of Urban Economic Structures Following the Great Recession

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2374; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042374

11 Pages Posted: 10 Dec 2020 Last revised: 23 Feb 2021

See all articles by Shade T. Shutters

Shade T. Shutters

Arizona State University (ASU); Global Climate Forum

Srinivasa Kandala

Arizona State University (ASU)

Fangwu Wei

Arizona State University (ASU) - Decision Theater

Ann Kinzig

Arizona State University (ASU) - Department of Biology

Date Written: December 9, 2020

Abstract

The future sustainability of cities is contingent on economic resilience. Yet, urban resilience is still not well understood, as cities are frequently disrupted by shocks, such as natural disasters, economic recessions, or changes in government policies. These shocks can significantly alter a city’s economic structure. Yet the term economic structure is often used metaphorically and is often not understood sufficiently by those having to implement policies. Here we operationalize the concept of economic structure as a weighted network of interdependent industry sectors. For 938 U.S. urban area, we then quantify the magnitude of change in the area’s economic structure over time, focusing on changes associated with the 2007-2009 global recession. The result is a novel method of analyzing urban change over time as well as a typology of U.S. urban systems based on how their economic structures responded to the recession. We further compare those urban types to changes in economic performance during the recession to explore each structural type's adaptive capacity. Results suggest that cities that undergo constant but measured change are best positioned to weather the impacts of economic shocks.

Keywords: urban resilience, development, economic structure, interdependence, economic shocks

JEL Classification: O10, O40, O51, L00, J01

Suggested Citation

Shutters, Shade T. and Kandala, Srinivasa and Wei, Fangwu and Kinzig, Ann, Resilience of Urban Economic Structures Following the Great Recession (December 9, 2020). Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2374; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042374, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3745922 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3745922

Shade T. Shutters (Contact Author)

Arizona State University (ASU) ( email )

PO Box 872701
Tempe, AZ 85287-2701
United States

HOME PAGE: http://search.asu.edu/profile/340746

Global Climate Forum ( email )

Berlin
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://globalclimateforum.org/

Srinivasa Kandala

Arizona State University (ASU) ( email )

Farmer Building 440G PO Box 872011
Tempe, AZ 85287
United States

Fangwu Wei

Arizona State University (ASU) - Decision Theater ( email )

Tempe, AZ
United States

Ann Kinzig

Arizona State University (ASU) - Department of Biology ( email )

Tempe, AZ
United States
480-965-6838 (Phone)

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