Building urban resilience through sustainability-oriented small- and medium-sized enterprises

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Sociology
• Business Management

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the interconnectedness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and community resilience.
• SMEs play an underappreciated role in mitigating impacts from human and natural hazards.
• Existing research often overlooks the symbiotic relationship between SME resilience and community well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the crucial role of SMEs in enhancing community resilience to various hazards.
• To identify opportunities for SMEs to accelerate sustainability practices through supportive ecosystems.
• To advocate for a transdisciplinary research agenda focused on SMEs as amplifiers of resilience.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of SME roles in resilience and sustainability.
• Examination of the 'enabling ecosystem' framework for private sector sustainability.
• Literature review on SME capacity-building and crisis response.

Main Results:

• SMEs are pivotal in building community resilience and fostering sustainability.
• Enabling ecosystems, comprising policies, resources, and intermediaries, are crucial for SME capacity-building.
• Investment, technical capabilities, and innovation must be focused within these ecosystems.

Conclusions:

• A transdisciplinary action research agenda is needed, centering on SMEs as key resilience actors.
• SMEs require support to enhance their own resilience and adaptive capacity.
• Lessons from the pandemic should drive accelerated climate action through SME-focused initiatives.