In a world where risks are evolving, so also must cities’ capacity to manage those risks. Interconnected systems are a source of strength for cities that can also be a vulnerability. Every system has its points of failure, and where one fails, it can have cascading effects on the rest.
Municipal governments are not able to plan for and manage these emerging risks alone and must work together with utilities, contractors, policy and insurance experts and other stakeholders to prepare for them. With climate change intensifying risks like flooding, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has worked with the insurance sector and local institutions to identify the potential cascading costs of failing to invest in flood resilience. If costs of failing to act are severe, the costs of failing to work together are much greater than the time and energy it takes to establish effective collaboration.
The GMCA’s efforts exemplify a proactive approach to planning for and managing risks that embraces the whole of society. Through the Global Risk and Resilience Fellowship, stakeholders from Greater Manchester Combined Authority, United Utilities, Resilient Cities Network and Howden, with support from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Governments and other key regional stakeholders, collaborated to examine how inadequate measures to manage flood risks can disrupt interconnected city systems.
The project assessed climate risks to five critical infrastructure assets owned by United Utilities and developed a qualitative methodology for cost-benefit analysis of adaptation measures. This approach aimed to identify the most effective and affordable strategies for United Utilities to mitigate current and future asset risks. With a shared understanding of who owns what risks, each entity came away with a better understanding of their own exposure, how to address their risks and where to direct investments for a more resilient future. Learning from cutting edge insurance data and modelling opened participants’ eyes to assess flood risks objectively and clarify their responsibility to take actions that could avoid major damage to the city, to families and to local businesses.
Beyond the technical details of assessing risks, the project brought the people involved in each institution together. Greater Manchester benefits from a well-established culture of collaboration. The Greater Manchester Resilience Forum coordinates emergency planning to ensure an effective multi-agency response to emergency incidents across the city-region, ensuring local authorities and other partner organisations are engaged and aligned in their roles for managing risks and emergencies. The fact that these connections already existed facilitated the process of bringing stakeholders together to discuss risk management and investment priorities. This collaborative process embodies the national whole of society approach and reinforces the importance of shared risk awareness, enhancing communication and cooperation across sectors.
The Fellowship project showed how flood risk is owned by multiple stakeholders – including the authorities in the region and other public bodies, businesses, utility and infrastructure providers and property owners themselves. A whole-of-society approach is necessary to manage and adapt to the intensifying risks that cities face. Collaboration between local government, the private sector and infrastructure providers, data sharing and problem-solving together benefits all parts of the urban system to create a better city for all.