IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i12p5142-d1416363.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Resilience of the Built Environment to Flooding: The Case of Alappuzha District in the South Indian State of Kerala

Author

Listed:
  • Afeef Abdurahman Choorapulakkal

    (Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP), Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Muhammed Gbolahan Madandola

    (Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP), Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Amina Al-Kandari

    (Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP), Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Raffaello Furlan

    (Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP), Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Goze Bayram

    (Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP), Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

  • Hassan Abdelgadir Ahmed Mohamed

    (Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP), Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar)

Abstract

In recent years, floods and climate-induced cataclysms have caused significant annual damage to livelihoods worldwide, with limited research on their vulnerability, impact, resilience, and long-term adaptation strategies in developing countries. In the South Indian State of Kerala, the major flood in 2018 caused immense economic losses in the low-lying and densely populated Alappuzha District. While the region has a heightened risk of periodic flooding, the considerable destruction of buildings and infrastructure highlights the need for effective solutions for flood resilience in the existing housing stock and new construction. In this context, this study examines flood resilience in the built environment of Alappuzha, focusing on flood vulnerability, building practices, and potential approaches suitable for the region that the current literature does not address. This study employs a qualitative research approach to understand current trends in adaptation strategies and the influencing socioeconomic and cultural factors. The study employs various data collection methods, including interviews, site observations, and content analyses of existing government reports, journal articles, and popular media sources. The findings indicate that although there are three types of established flood resilience techniques (static elevated, floating, and amphibious structures), their suitability for the low-lying areas of Alappuzha depends on the geographic, climatic, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts. Stilted houses have become the most common construction method, in response to climatic and socioeconomic conditions. In addition, the findings highlight the bounce-forth resilience quality of amphibious building techniques and suggest further exploration by integrating them with local technologies and materials. The study concludes that a comprehensive approach is needed that integrates traditional and modern knowledge and practices in disaster risk reduction and management to enhance the resilience of the built environment to flooding.

Suggested Citation

  • Afeef Abdurahman Choorapulakkal & Muhammed Gbolahan Madandola & Amina Al-Kandari & Raffaello Furlan & Goze Bayram & Hassan Abdelgadir Ahmed Mohamed, 2024. "The Resilience of the Built Environment to Flooding: The Case of Alappuzha District in the South Indian State of Kerala," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-23, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:12:p:5142-:d:1416363
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/12/5142/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/12/5142/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dorcas Idowu & Wendy Zhou, 2023. "Global Megacities and Frequent Floods: Correlation between Urban Expansion Patterns and Urban Flood Hazards," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    2. Yasin Bektaş & Adem Sakarya, 2023. "The Relationship between the Built Environment and Climate Change: The Case of Turkish Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Daniel Felsenstein & Michal Lichter, 2014. "Social and economic vulnerability of coastal communities to sea-level rise and extreme flooding," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 71(1), pages 463-491, March.
    4. Omur Damla Kuru & N. Emel Ganapati & Matthew Marr, 2023. "Perceptions of Local Leaders Regarding Postdisaster Relocation of Residents in the Face of Rising Seas," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5), pages 1124-1145, September.
    5. Bikram Manandhar & Shenghui Cui & Lihong Wang & Sabita Shrestha, 2023. "Urban Flood Hazard Assessment and Management Practices in South Asia: A Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-29, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mahmoud Mabrouk & Haoying Han & Mahran Gamal N. Mahran & Karim I. Abdrabo & Ahmed Yousry, 2024. "Revisiting Urban Resilience: A Systematic Review of Multiple-Scale Urban Form Indicators in Flood Resilience Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-44, June.
    2. M. Rezaul Islam, 2018. "Climate Change, Natural Disasters and Socioeconomic Livelihood Vulnerabilities: Migration Decision Among the Char Land People in Bangladesh," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 575-593, April.
    3. Seunghoo Jeong & D. K. Yoon, 2018. "Examining Vulnerability Factors to Natural Disasters with a Spatial Autoregressive Model: The Case of South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-13, May.
    4. Qin Fan & Meri Davlasheridze, 2016. "Flood Risk, Flood Mitigation, and Location Choice: Evaluating the National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(6), pages 1125-1147, June.
    5. Mariusz Starzec & Sabina Kordana-Obuch, 2024. "Evaluating the Utility of Selected Machine Learning Models for Predicting Stormwater Levels in Small Streams," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-29, January.
    6. Hameeda Sultan & Jinyan Zhan & Wajid Rashid & Xi Chu & Eve Bohnett, 2022. "Systematic Review of Multi-Dimensional Vulnerabilities in the Himalayas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-20, September.
    7. Elizabeth A. Mack & Ethan Theuerkauf & Erin Bunting, 2020. "Coastal Typology: An Analysis of the Spatiotemporal Relationship between Socioeconomic Development and Shoreline Change," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Tengku Mohamad Amirulhakimi Tengku Mohd Hazrin & Suhaimi Abd Samad & Hazlina Mohd Padil & Radduan Yusof & Mazlan Che Soh & Eley Suzana Kasim & Mohd Hairy Ibrahim, 2024. "Content Analysis of Flood Relief Efforts: Examining Coping and Recovery Themes in Resilience Narrative Analysis," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(6), pages 32-45, June.
    9. Meenu Rani & Sufia Rehman & Haroon Sajjad & B. S. Chaudhary & Jyoti Sharma & Sandeep Bhardwaj & Pavan Kumar, 2018. "Assessing coastal landscape vulnerability using geospatial techniques along Vizianagaram–Srikakulam coast of Andhra Pradesh, India," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 94(2), pages 711-725, November.
    10. Yi Chen & Tao Liu & Ruishan Chen & Mengke Zhao, 2020. "Influence of the Built Environment on Community Flood Resilience: Evidence from Nanjing City, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Iuliana Armas & Radu Ionescu & Cristina Posner, 2015. "Flood risk perception along the Lower Danube river, Romania," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 79(3), pages 1913-1931, December.
    12. Stephanie Chang & Jackie Yip & Shona Zijll de Jong & Rebecca Chaster & Ashley Lowcock, 2015. "Using vulnerability indicators to develop resilience networks: a similarity approach," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 78(3), pages 1827-1841, September.
    13. Mark Lubell & Mark Stacey & Michelle A. Hummel, 2021. "Collective action problems and governance barriers to sea-level rise adaptation in San Francisco Bay," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 1-25, August.
    14. Sufia Rehman & Mehebub Sahana & Haoyuan Hong & Haroon Sajjad & Baharin Bin Ahmed, 2019. "A systematic review on approaches and methods used for flood vulnerability assessment: framework for future research," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 96(2), pages 975-998, March.
    15. Mathew E. Hauer & Dean Hardy & Scott A. Kulp & Valerie Mueller & David J. Wrathall & Peter U. Clark, 2021. "Assessing population exposure to coastal flooding due to sea level rise," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-9, December.
    16. Daystar Babanawo & Precious Agbeko D. Mattah & Samuel K. M. Agblorti & Emmanuel K. Brempong & Memuna Mawusi Mattah & Denis Worlanyo Aheto, 2022. "Local Indicator-Based Flood Vulnerability Indices and Predictors of Relocation in the Ketu South Municipal Area of Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-26, May.
    17. Muhammad Younas & Shuhab D. Khan & Muhammad Qasim & Younes Hamed, 2022. "Assessing Impacts of Land Subsidence in Victoria County, Texas, Using Geospatial Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-20, December.
    18. J. Connor Darlington & Niko Yiannakoulias & Amin Elshorbagy, 2022. "Changes in social vulnerability to flooding: a quasi-experimental analysis," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 111(3), pages 2487-2509, April.
    19. K. Burrows & G. B. Anderson & M. Yan & A. Wilson & M. B. Sabath & J. Y. Son & H. Kim & F. Dominici & M. L. Bell, 2023. "Health disparities among older adults following tropical cyclone exposure in Florida," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Bahaa Elboshy & Shinjiro Kanae & Mona Gamaleldin & Hany Ayad & Toshihiro Osaragi & Waleed Elbarki, 2019. "A framework for pluvial flood risk assessment in Alexandria considering the coping capacity," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 77-94, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:12:p:5142-:d:1416363. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.