The last step of the Planning Phase is to synthesize information gathered from the previous steps into a coherent resilience and adaptation strategy.  The resilience strategy will serve as the keystone document for resilience building policies and projects that are integrated with existing city planning frameworks.   

A range of different formats maybe used for a resilience strategy. At a minimum, the strategy includes a baseline, an agreed upon vision for city resilience, and priority areas for action. The baseline contains a description of the city, along with key economic, cultural, social, political, and demographic information and a history of what makes the city unique and special.  This baseline describes current challenges and opportunities, along with current and future trends that will shape the city over the coming decades.  The strategy includes an agreed upon vision for the city’s future, including a definition of resilience and overarching goals and objectives for resilience building.  The strategy also describes priority action areas, generally grouped into clusters or themes associated with critical city systems.

These priority action areas will be linked to concrete actions and policies aimed at building resilience and fostering transformational change.  Included here is a general overview of funding sources to support the activities, programs, and policies, as well as a timeline.  A key part of describing the specifics of the plan is that they all clearly work together to achieve the broader resilience goals that have been identified by the city.