A new study examining risks faced by global cities suggests the top five most resilient share , according to the study’s partners, Tokio Marine Group and Economist Impact.

Examining critical facets of urban life, the “Resilient Cities Index 2023” explores 25 global cities’ ability to evade, withstand, and recover from various stressors unexpected events.

The urgency to evaluate how cities handle various negative events is due to rapid urbanization.

It’s expected that by 2050, two-thirds of the global population will reside in cities.

The report noted that most cities across the world lack the infrastructure and robust environmental policies needed to combat the worsening impacts of climate change.

The findings indicate a pronounced environmental difference between East and West Coast.

Los Angeles and New York were the two most resilient cities among the 25 surveyed, with LA scoring 84.4 out of 100 and New York the highest at 84.9.

The report noted that some cities that scored the highest in resilience sustained a catastrophic event that led them to plan for such events in the future.

New York was found to be more resilient than Los Angeles when it comes to critical infrastructural, environmental, socio-institutional and economic factors. The city is also more resilient due to the city’s superior water management and internet quality.

Los Angeles is expected to be one of the most impacted cities in the world by the effects of climate change, with average temperatures expected to skyrocket to 34.2 degrees Celsius by 2030, compared with New York at 33.7.

Los Angeles also had poorer air quality when compared with to New York and the quality of public transportation in LA ranked amongst the lowest half of cities surveyed.

While New York was found to be at the lowest risk of coastal and river flooding, Los Angeles has a higher exposure to river flooding.

Concerning cybersecurity, Los Angeles is better prepared than most cities with tools in place allowing them to respond within ten minutes of an attack.

Both cities were found to be amongst the top three cities for incentivizing innovation, with New York ahead at a score of 223.4 compared to Los Angele’s 116.9 (out of 250).

Globally, only six cities can respond to an event within 10 minutes: Dubai, Istanbul, London, Los Angeles, Munich and Tokyo.

Income disparity, poor health and well-being and an unsteady infrastructure with no future investment plans scored lowest in resilience.

Extreme heat has become a global worry and, according to the study, cities around the world are responding with heat plans in place.

“The world is facing unprecedented challenges. Extreme weather events, from hurricanes and wildfires to flooding and heatwaves, are becoming more frequent and their effects more devastating. Our cities are exposed to all of these risks and more. Lives and livelihoods depend on our ability to understand and mitigate the evolving threats to our urban centers. Emerging risks created by our dependence on technology and changing demographics are broadening the threat spectrum,” said Brad Irick, CEO of Tokio Marine Kiln and executive officer of Tokio Marine Group.

“Building resilient cities requires stakeholders from government, business and communities, as well as individual city-dwellers, to engage in holistic resilience thinking at community and municipality levels,” the report added.