The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) will help pioneer an ISO standard—ISO 37120—for resilient and sustainable cities. The standard is based on work already being done in 45 cities that are committing to keeping their citizens safe from natural hazards such as storms, floods and earthquakes.

The new standard will be based on 100 indicators, which direct and identify the performance of city services and quality of life. It is being implemented by the Toronto-based World Council on City Data (WCCD).

“The ‘Making Cities Resilient Campaign’ launched four years ago now has 2,500 participating cities and towns with a combined population of some 700 million people," says Margareta Wahlström, head of UNISDR. “We have 45 role model cities that are ready to implement the new ISO 37120 standard for resilient and sustainable cities. We will work together with WCCD to further build the family of ISO standards for resilient cities."

The standard will also ensure that the ‘Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient’ will be incorporated. These focus on issues such as good urban planning, land-use, a risk-informed citizenry, safe schools and health facilities, protection of eco-systems, early warnings and emergency management.