Socio-economic and technological flexibility is key to the resilience of American cities in times of crisis.

The Great Recession and its aftermath have seen new challenges for many American cities. In new research, Pierre-Alexandre Balland, David Rigby and Ron Boschma look at why some cities are more resilient to challenges and crises than others. They write that cities vary in their response to technological crises because of differences in their socio-economic flexibility. They argue that cities which are able to deploy inventors to new developing technological activities are better placed to avoid crises, and to cope with them when they do occur.