This thesis argues for the significance of urban resilience in sustainable urban development as well as for the necessity for practitioners to engage with this new emerging concept. It does so with a theoretical contribution to the definition of urban resilience, and with case studies analysis that help develop practical pathways to its attainment. For this purpose, the author has used a particular existing method (the Urban Futures method) developed within the EPSRC-funded four-year Urban Futures research programme. The author, as a member of the inter-disciplinary research team and of the sub-team of the 'Surface Built Environment and Open Spaces' work package, was instrumental to the development of that method, particularly for those aspects that pertain specifically to urban design and planning. In the section 5.3.3 the personal contribution of the author is described in detail. Moreover, interviews with practitioners presented in the chapter four, which constitute an essential part of the thesis, were conducted together with Dr. Maria Caserio, another team member of the work package mentioned above. She contributed to select interviewees, carry out the interviews, draft the transcripts, and discuss findings. However, the principal input in all these phases of the research comes exclusively from the author. The case studies presented in chapter six were also developed by the author throughout the course of the research programme. The chapter is based on papers that have been published or accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals (Caputo et al, 2012; Caputo et al (forthcoming)), and on conference papers accepted for oral presentation (Caputo and Gaterell, 2011; Caputo and Gaterell, 2012) in two important international conferences: the Sustainable buildings conference - Helsinki, 2011; and the 1st International Conference on Urban Sustainability and Resilience - London, 2012. Likewise, chapter five introducing the Urban Futures method as well as the process of selection and modification of the future scenarios that are at its heart, is based on papers published in peer-reviewed journals, and on a book dedicated to the Urban Futures method printed by the Building Research Establishment, which the author has co-authored (Hunt et al, 2012; Boyko et al, 2012; Lombardi et al, 2012). Finally, chapter three and four presenting the literature review and the interviews to practitioners are based on an article submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, which the author has revised in response to reviewers' comments and that is in the course of resubmission (Caputo, et al - Designing a resilient urban system. Submitted to Journal of Urbanism).