Building on intensive preliminary considerations also by the BBSR and the objectives of the memorandum “Urba-ne Resilience”, the prototype of a stress test for cities developed as part of a previous ExWost project is to be further developed in a practice-oriented manner, so that a concrete operationalization for the integrated urban development concepts (ISEK), resilience requirements are achieved. The aim is to develop and disseminate a stress test that can be integrated as an essential component and as a standard task in urban development concepts and preparatory studies and, ideally, is carried out before a decision is taken on a municipal budget at the municipal level. If further development is successful, practice-oriented and action-oriented, such a stress test can become a broad-based instrument for risk provisions and a valuable building block for strengthening urban resilience in Germany. A number of important arguments support the systematic use of municipal stress tests:

- They use all the information advantages of municipalities in a federal context as an instrument.

- They lead to systematic and targeted risk communication on site throughout Germany.

- They provide a direct link to decisions about municipal investment by leading to predictive auditing/stronger assurance, greater transparency and wider acceptance of (investment) decisions and urban development projects.

- You can reduce systematic misguided incentives that regularly result in risk analyses and precautionary measures being too low.

- The federal government and the BBSR can provide broad technical support in the practice-oriented further development of the methodology for municipal stress tests.

- Stress tests at local level can become a decidedly important instrument of resilience policy for Germany.

Cities and municipalities should be involved in the course of implementation-oriented further development and, in particular, in practical testing. In addition, a broad information and awareness-raising process for cities and municipalities must be integrated into the project in the course of the project and at the end of the project as part of the specialist public relations work and a broad transfer of results.

The project pursues several objectives and is expected as significant results:

- Implementation of the recommendations for action in the Urban Resilience Memorandum and a practice-oriented further development of the present concept for a stress test for cities with the involvement of the leading municipal associations of approx. 10 municipalities as model projects

- A concrete, practical solution for risk and crisis prevention as part of integrated urban development and planning

- Stronger emphasis on risk and crisis prevention in municipal development strategies as a basis for budget and investment decisions

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