URSA Research

URSA, which stands for “Urban Resilience and Sustainability Alliance," is an initiative for collaborative research dedicated to advancing research in urban resilience and sustainability.

Founded by faculty members at University Canada West in Vancouver, URSA has since expanded to include partners across Canada and Europe.

Together, they strategically address the multifaceted challenges of urbanization through a scientifically grounded systemic approach. Departing from conventional methodologies, URSA embraces a comprehensive, network-centric lens, recognizing the dynamics inherent in urban environments.

Drawing inspiration from the analogy to the constellation, URSA consists of seven in-progress research mosaics.

Research Mosaics

MOSAIC I

Integrated Urban Model

MOSAIC I develops multi-level urban socio-economic resilience framework supplemented with urban system abstraction hierarchy (USAH).

MOSAIC II

Stakeholder Analysis

MOSAIC II systematically identifies, researches, classifies, and engages all stakeholders in urban resilience, including the public sector, NGOs, private sector, and community-based organizations.

MOSAIC III

Graph Database

MOSAIC III is about using this information to start building up a data infrastructure that can help to model the complex interlinkages between socio-economic systems, stakeholders, and urban resilience indicators.

MOSAIC IV

Complex Network Analysis

MOSAIC IV applies Complex Network Analysis (CNA) to map, quantify, and analyze the resilience of urban systems. The analysis identifies critical structural vulnerabilities and interdependencies in socio-economic networks.

MOSAIC V

AI-Guided Capacity Development Dashboard

MOSAIC V uses expert knowledge and the graph databases from Mosaics III and IV to develop an AI decisionsupport system for urban resilience planning.

Meet our Team

Let’s Work Together

Get in touch so we can start working together.