This paper engages with resilience in urban design by discussing knowledge that can be derived from case studies as being important contributions to innovation and hope, the core of resilience. The purpose of urban design is to sustainably add cultural, environmental and economic value to human settlements. In order to achieve this urban design must cover a broad scope of concerns, it must be comprehensive. Urban design knowledge cannot stultify but must advance through expansion, continual testing and refinement. Resilience in urban design knowledge springs from constant engagement with and adaptation of national and international ideas and examples disseminated through conferences, visits, study and reflection. In an attempt at comprehensiveness, current urban design examples from small scale to whole cities, all relevant to sustainable cities, are discussed under the five headings of - smart containment, smart growth, re-birth, building performance, and ecological urbanism. If a city expects to evolve sustainably and with resilience, urban design requires a comprehensive approach across the full scale from individual houses to the city as a whole, all of which is locally relevant. This can embrace the adaptation and transfer of ideas and knowledge that is widely available from other places. The challenge is to experiment and innovate and to strike the appropriate balance for application between place uniqueness and globalised culture.