Our Story

The Resilient Cities Network legacy is built on the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) initiative, pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation in 2013, as part of its Global Centennial Initiative.

The initiative was built on a substantial investment from The Rockefeller Foundation, which enabled cities to hire a Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), develop a resilience strategy, access pro bono services from private sector and NGO partners, and share ideas, innovation and knowledge through the global network of CROs.

Over years of deep engagement with city leaders, communities and the private sector, this initiative enabled transformational change in cities through support of resilience plans and early implementation of projects.

From our experience of creating resilience strategies in dozens of cities, we learned that using a resilience lens strategically to plan a portfolio of actions creates higher-impact projects that can deliver benefits to multiple sectors, in particular to vulnerable communities. 

We also discovered a critical challenge: cities do not have enough support to articulate and develop their most innovative ideas, or to turn these ideas into fully realized projects. This gap in the market prevents cities from delivering on their most urgent objectives and prevents funders from identifying pipelines of transformational projects.

In 2019, as the 100RC initiative came to a close, member cities and CROs spearheaded the next phase of the initiative, which led to its transition into the Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities). For over a year, more than 30 percent of our member cities and CROs participated in a broad co-design process to build the new phase of the urban resilience movement. 

With strong support from member cities, the network was officially launched in 2020, with a mission to reduce vulnerability and improve the well-being of over 220 million urban dwellers around the world. We have a presence in nearly 100 cities and over 40 countries around the world.

Using insights gained from our experience, R-Cities now brings together global knowledge, practice, partnerships, and funding to empower our member cities. CROs across our network lead their city’s resilience efforts, guided by their City Resilience Strategy. Our work is broadly organized into three pillars: Climate Resilience, Circularity and Equity.

With continued support from our funding partners, R-Cities continues to support cities and their CROs in future-proofing their communities and critical infrastructure. We are guided by four principles in building a safer, more equitable, and sustainable future for all: