Resilience Thinking in Spatial Planning: Challenges and Opportunities for Climate Change Adaptation

Abstract

Resilience thinking, with its focus on adaptability and transformability, offers a holistic, systems-based approach to planning that promotes flexibility, participatory processes, and long-term sustainability. However, research has largely focused on urban contexts, overlooking the specific challenges faced by rural areas and small municipalities. This debate article explores the potential and challenges of applying resilience thinking to climate change adaptation in spatial planning, using Lower Austria as an illustrative case. We examine resilience approaches in small to medium sized municipalities, distinguishing between absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities. Our findings, show that resilience thinking at the municipal level is often limited to short-term coping strategies, such as flood protection, with little systemic integration into planning. Climate change adaption remain fragmented and governance constraints, such as limited expertise and financial resources, further hinder long-term resilience. This debate highlights the need for further in-depth research on a multi-level approach that integrates local knowledge with broader planning frameworks to enhance transformative resilience in rural spatial planning.