Abstract
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of disruptions to urban infrastructure, while growing interdependencies heighten the risk of cascading failures. Drawing on a scoping review and qualitative analysis of UK legislation and policy, this study examines how infrastructure resilience is conceptualised, governed and operationalised. Findings reveal fragmented governance, inequitable vulnerability, policy–implementation gaps and a lack of interconnected resilience standards. These weaknesses hinder coordinated adaptation and place-based assessment. The paper proposes a place-based ex-ante resilience benchmark to support interconnected standards, strengthen accountability, inform adaptation pathways and provide a consistent basis for assessing resilience across UK urban areas.