> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.therisk.global/organization/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.therisk.global/organization/use-by/cities-and-utilities.md). # Cities and utilities How cities, subnational governments and essential-service operators can use the Nexus programme: service-dependency maps, controlled stress tests of water, power, transport and health services, contin **Where this fits.** Audience: cities, subnational and rural authorities, and the operators of essential services (water, power, transport, telecoms, health facilities). Sectors: infrastructure, water, energy and health first. Pillars: Labs (nowcasts and thresholds), Foundry (city and basin twins), Universe (restoration exercises), Standards (shared asset and outage records), Reports (lifeline profiles), Academy (operators). Offerings: O01, O02, O05. Kind: audience guide. ## In brief A city runs on services that depend on each other. Flooded streets take out substations, pumping stations and clinic access together; drinking water fails when power does. Cities and operators are asked to see those dependencies before the shock, test their restoration plans, and invest where it keeps services running. The programme offers a place-specific scope and service-dependency map, controlled stress tests of essential services, continuity options with their uncertainties, records that utilities can exchange, and courses for operators. The operator keeps every operational decision. Participation gives the programme no control of operational technology, and membership never permits production access. ## What cities and utilities are trying to do | Task | Framework | What it asks for | | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Measure city resilience | ISO 37123 indicators for resilient cities ([ISO, 2019](https://www.iso.org/standard/70428.html)) | Defined indicators and methods, used with ISO 37120 | | Keep services running | ISO 22301 business continuity ([ISO, 2019](https://www.iso.org/standard/75106.html)) | A continuity management system with tested plans | | Govern infrastructure as a system | OECD, *Good Governance for Critical Infrastructure Resilience* ([OECD, 2019](https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/good-governance-for-critical-infrastructure-resilience_02f0e5a0-en.html)) | A shift from protecting single assets to the resilience of systems, with responsibility shared between government and operators | | Understand interdependencies | Rinaldi, Peerenboom and Kelly ([2001](https://doi.org/10.1109/37.969131)); Buldyrev et al. ([2010](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08932)) | Physical, cyber, geographic and logical dependencies between infrastructures, and how failures cascade between coupled networks | | Invest where it pays | *Lifelines* ([Hallegatte, Rentschler and Rozenberg, 2019](https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31805)) | About $4 of benefit for each $1 invested in more resilient infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries | | Adapt to climate change | ISO 14090 ([ISO, 2019](https://www.iso.org/standard/68507.html)) | Principles, requirements and guidelines for adaptation planning | ## What the programme offers | Need | What the programme provides | Where in the programme | | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | See the dependencies | The urban flood, heatwave, grid blackout and coastal storm surge scenarios of the model, with the sectors hit first, those reached through the coupling and the stress each carries | [The Model](/organization/model.md) | | A place-specific scope | A place-specific scope, service-dependency map and community engagement plan | O01 | | Stress-test essential services | Sector dependency atlas, risk scenarios, service-continuity options, engineering evidence, residual uncertainties, reviewed handoff dossier | O02 | | Prepare for the event | Warning and trigger verification, exercise observations, improvement plan | O05 | | Exercise restoration | A controlled exercise, such as keeping water and power running through a 1-in-100 flood, measured in hours to restore | [Nexus Universe](/organization/programme/universe.md) | | Exchange outage data | Shared asset records so utilities exchange outage data, measured in agencies sharing records | [Nexus Standards](/organization/institutions/nexus-standards.md) | | Operators who can use it | Courses for utility and emergency operators | [Risk Academy](/organization/institutions/risk-academy.md) | The rows above follow the applied response of the urban flood scenario. They are illustrative applications and the measure each pillar would answer for, not delivered projects. ## Routes that apply The Nexus Consortium model sets a route for each kind of participant: the action that opens it, the first outcome, the offerings that apply, and a boundary, quoted here as published ([How Nexus Consortium works](https://therisk.global/consortium/)). | Participant | Action | First outcome | Offerings | Boundary | | --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Subnational governments, cities and rural authorities | Propose a place-based resilience programme | A place-specific scope, service-dependency map and community engagement plan. | O01 National Risk, Innovation and Portfolio Baseline; O02 Sector and Critical-Infrastructure Resilience; O05 Multi-Hazard and Anticipatory-Action Preparedness | "A city relationship never becomes national representation." | | Utilities, infrastructure and essential-service operators | Submit an operationally grounded mission | A dependency study, controlled test design, options and limitations and a handoff to the operator. | O02 Sector and Critical-Infrastructure Resilience; O03 Data, Compute and AI Capability; O05 Multi-Hazard and Anticipatory-Action Preparedness | "Membership never permits production access; public previews never reveal restricted topology." | ## Entry route * [How Nexus Consortium works](https://therisk.global/consortium/) and [National Nexus](https://therisk.global/consortium/national/) on the GCRI site * [Six programme regions](https://therisk.global/consortium/regions/) and [Cross-border risk systems](https://therisk.global/consortium/regions/shared-systems/) for shared basins and grids * [Early warning and anticipatory action](https://therisk.global/programmes/early-warning/) ## What the programme does not do Participation gives the programme no control of operational technology. Exercises carry no live actuation, incident command or warning authority. Membership never permits production access, and public previews never reveal restricted topology. A city relationship never becomes national representation. Every operational, investment and procurement decision stays with the operator or the city. ## Status today The programme is in formation, at service level R0: information and enquiries ([Programme status](https://therisk.global/consortium/programme-status/)). ## Sources * Buldyrev, S. V., Parshani, R., Paul, G., Stanley, H. E. and Havlin, S. (2010). Catastrophic cascade of failures in interdependent networks. *Nature* 464: 1025–1028. * Hallegatte, S., Rentschler, J. and Rozenberg, J. (2019). *Lifelines: The Resilient Infrastructure Opportunity*. Washington, DC: World Bank. * ISO (2019). *ISO 14090:2019 Adaptation to climate change — Principles, requirements and guidelines*. * ISO (2019). *ISO 22301:2019 Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Requirements*. * ISO (2019). *ISO 37123:2019 Sustainable cities and communities — Indicators for resilient cities*. * OECD (2019). *Good Governance for Critical Infrastructure Resilience*. Paris: OECD Publishing. * Rinaldi, S. M., Peerenboom, J. P. and Kelly, T. K. (2001). Identifying, understanding, and analyzing critical infrastructure interdependencies. *IEEE Control Systems Magazine* 21(6): 11–25. * The [Sources library](/organization/reference/sources.md) holds the full entries. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. 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