title: A systems approach to resilience in the built environment: the case of Cuba.
abstract: Through its capacity to evoke systemic adaptation before and after disasters, resilience has become a seductive theory in disaster management. Several studies have linked the concept with systems theory; however, they have been mostly based on theoretical models with limited empirical support. The study of the Cuban model of resilience sheds light on the variables that create systemic resilience in the built environment and its relations with the social and natural environments. Cuba is vulnerable to many types of hazard, yet the country's disaster management benefits from institutional, health and education systems that develop social capital, knowledge and other assets that support construction industry and housing development, systematic urban and regional planning, effective alerts, and evacuation plans. The Cuban political context is specific, but the study can nonetheless contribute to systemic improvements to the resilience of built environments in other contexts.
authors.affiliation: Member of the IF Research Group, Department of Architecture, University of Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lizarralde
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valladares
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivera
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: Jennifer Duyne
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Barenstein
mesh_terms: D003462:Cuba; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004779:Environment Design; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical
keywords: built environment; disasters; systemic adaptation; systemic resilience; systems theory