Planning in a complex, changing and uncertain urban reality: the emergence of a resilience planning paradigm in the city of Barcelona

Resilience has been criticised for its fuzziness, inconsistency and lack of clear indicators. However, it can be a useful analytical tool to orient the redesign of urban planning approaches in a context of increasing complexity, uncertainty and change. The incorporation of resilience principles into planning processes might contribute to transcend the barriers of traditional planning approaches to accommodate to the realities of the 21st century. Institutional reforms and innovations crafted by the Barcelona City Council since 2009 shed light on the path towards a resilience planning paradigm.