$1.5 Million NSF Grant Fuels Global Effort to Build Resilient, Future-Ready Cities

The National Science Foundation recently awarded a $1.5 million grant to a multi-university research team aiming to develop more resilient cities for future generations. 

This international group of experts includes Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences' Linyin Cheng, associate professor in the Department of Geosciences, and Song Yang, professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology. 

"This project allows me to apply my area of research on social network analysis to the practical field of building resilient cities," Yang said. "By working with the multidisciplinary and multi-institutional team, I am expanding my knowledge base and identifying pathways for knowledge applications." 

"Cities are seen as both particularly vulnerable to global challenges and incubators for local solutions," Cheng said. "This NSF investment will help us bring together a wide range of academics, practitioners and policy makers to research and advocate for effective solutions to the multitude of wicked problems faced in the design, construction and operation of current and future urban landscapes." 

Their project, titled "AccelNet Implementation Phase 1: International Networks Towards Future Resilience of U.S. Urban Socio-Technical Systems," has the potential to uncover new insights at the intersection of technology, society and climate.  

Together, this group is establishing Resilient-NET, a collaborative research network linking U.S. and global communities focused on urban socio-technical resilience.  

The project adopts a comprehensive approach by centering on three main pillars:  

• Technology ("New Dimension") — analyzing AI-enabled infrastructure and mobility systems 

• People ("Missing Puzzle") — studying the dynamic interactions between humans and technology 

•  Environment ("Uncertainty Accelerator") — addressing increasing natural disasters to enhance predictive models, disaster preparedness and urban digital twin development.  

Led by Xiao Liu, the David M. McKenney Family Associate Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, the team also includes Hiba Baroud of Vanderbilt University, Jennifer Pazour from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Yisha Xiang from the University of Houston and Xiang Zhou at Harvard University.