To kick off the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, President Bill Clinton announced a global Commitment to Action to support at least 100 cities in hiring a chief resilience officer—in an effort to develop and finance new infrastructure. The effort, part of the 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge, is being led by the Rockefeller Foundation with Swiss Re, Palantir, Architecture for Humanity, and the American Institute of Architects.

A new organization to be called 100 Resilient Cities will coordinate the network of cities and the services offered to this network. The AIA, Swiss Re, Architecture for Humanity, and Palantir are committed to offering these services.

“The American Institute of Architects and Architecture for Humanity are committed to creating a series of Regional Resilient Design Studios,” said AIA Chief Executive Officer Robert Ivy, FAIA, in a release. “By building upon our experience helping recover in the wake of major disasters, these studios will train and engage architects in their communities before disasters strike."

Since as much as 75 percent of the world's population may live in cities by 2050, the effort launched today seeks to prepare populations for future shocks, from extreme weather and seismic events to terrorism. As part of the 100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge, more than 500 cities worldwide registered to be invited to participate in the network. On Dec. 3, at the Rockefeller Foundation's annual Innovation Forum, the winning cities will be announced. These will be the cities that will be eligible for various services provided by the AIA, Architecture for Humanity, Palantir, and Swiss Re.

"Through the Studios, we will provide capacity-building workshops to guide cities in their agenda setting, which offer powerful planning tools to cities along with access to resilience planning experts," said Eric Cesal, director of Architecture for Humanity's Reconstruction and Resiliency Studio, in the release.

The 100 Resilient Cities network draws support from a $100 million pledge by the Rockefeller Foundation to build out urban infrastructure and capacity for dealing with climate change and natural disasters. The Rockefeller Foundation and the parties involved with the Commitment to Action hope to draw new cities to the network and more entities to join the AIA et al. in providing services.

"We are excited to share this resource with the network of cities created through 100 Resilient Cities,” Ivy said.