A critical review of infrastructure resilience in fast-growing, hot, and arid cities of the Global South

Alblooshi, Hassan, Rezgui, Yacine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5711-8400, Beach, Thomas and Mustafa, Mohamed ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1152-3188 2026. A critical review of infrastructure resilience in fast-growing, hot, and arid cities of the Global South. Sustainable Cities and Society 139 , 107238. 10.1016/j.scs.2026.107238

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Abstract

Urban growth in the Global South is accelerating, with fast-expanding cities in hot and arid regions facing mounting pressures from water scarcity, ex- treme heat, and widening socio-spatial inequalities. Existing resilience frame- works remain constrained by static indicators, limited cultural adaptation, and weak accommodation of informality and hybrid governance. This study conducts a structured review of recent peer-reviewed literature on urban and infrastructure resilience in these settings, using a PRISMA-guided systematic process to identify dominant methodologies, contextual gaps, and emerging analytical trends. The analysis shows that current frameworks struggle to account for climate-specific hazards, uneven institutional capacity, and the inter-dependencies that shape cascading risks across water, energy, cooling, and mobility systems. In response, the paper introduces a six-layer, capacity- tiered resilience framework designed to adapt its analytical depth to a city’s data availability, governance maturity, and resource constraints. This model advances the field by embedding equity, informality, and multi-system inter- dependencies as structural requirements rather than optional considerations, enabling a more scalable and context-responsive approach for fast-growing, data-scarce urban environments. Resilience is treated as a capacity-sensitive process, the study offers a practical pathway for cities to progress from ba- sic qualitative diagnostics toward more advanced, predictive assessments as institutional and technical capabilities evolve.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Engineering
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	2210-6707
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 March 2026
Date of Acceptance:	15 March 2026
Last Modified:	13 Aug 2026 15:52
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186055

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