Understanding Risk Forum 2024 TDLC Focus Day Session: Designing Resilient Cities through Data-Driven Solutions in a Riskier World – Lessons Learned from Japan and the World

Background

With the 30th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Awaji earthquake approaching in 2025, the Understanding Risk Forum 2024 (UR24) will be held from June 16 -21, 2024 in Himeji City, Hyogo prefecture, Japan. Hundreds of government officials, NGOs, businesses and disaster management experts from Japan and around the world will gather together to discuss how to better understand risks from natural disasters and enable more effective action.

During UR24 on June 20, 2024, the World Bank Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC), in collaboration with the City Planning Labs (CPL), will host a focus session around the theme “Designing Resilient Cities through Data-Driven Solutions in a Riskier World – Lessons Learned from Japan and the World”.

Cities are facing heightened risks due to climate change, rapid urbanization, and natural hazards. At the same time, the needs of urban residents are diversifying, and administrative issues are becoming more complicated as a consequence, making it even more challenging for local governments to solve issues by themselves. It is beneficial for cities to better understand and seize the transformative potential of digitalization and spatial data and to empower themselves with informed decision-making for a more sustainable and equitable future. This side event will provide a venue for knowledge exchange and also potentially open the door for local governments, private sector, and citizens to work together networking and exchanging solutions to shared urban challenges. 

Overview

This TDLC session will bring together practitioners and stakeholders in an exchange of insights on the critical role of data in building resilient cities. The session will be held in collaboration with the Japanese partner cities of the City Partnership Program (CPP), launched by TDLC in 2016.

09:00-09:05  
Welcome Remarks

09:05-09:15  
Framing Presentation: Designing Resilient Cities through Data-Driven Solutions

09:15-09:55  
Fireside Chat: Resilient by Design- Planning and Building Cities with Data in Toyama City

• Mayor of Toyama

09:55-10:00  
Data Ecosystem Built by the City Planning Labs’tools

10:00-11:00  
City Spotlights Panel: Data-Driven Solutions for Resilient Urban Planning, Governance, and Reconstruction

• Case Studies: Kenya, Indonesia, Ukraine and Japan (Kobe City)

11:00-11:10  
Group Exercise Announcement and Coffee Break

11:10-12:20  
Hands-On Data Planning Tools and Reflections

12:20-12:25
Closing Remarks