Assessment of Urban Resilience to Floods: A Spatial Planning Framework for Cities

Urbanization-led economic growth drives infrastructure investments and population accumulation in cities, hence exploiting natural resources at an extreme rate. In this context, coastal cities have become vulnerable to climate change-induced extreme weather events and human-made disasters in recent history, where effective measures to improve the resilience of cities are pivotal for developing sustainable living environments. This study proposes a framework for assessing urban resilience to natural disasters (floods) using bottom-up spatial interactions among natural, physical, and social systems within cities and regions. It is noted that seminal studies focus on either the mitigation or adaptation strategies within urban environments to assess disaster resilience, where limited multidisciplinary and operational models hinder evaluations at the city scale. Therefore, urban system interactions and quantifiable parameters proposed in this framework are essential for policymakers and disaster management agencies in the timely allocation of resources to optimize the recovery process. Moreover, spatial planning agencies can adopt resilience mapping to identify the potential risk zones and orient sustainable land use management. Urban resilience can be embodied in spatial strategies with the operational framework proposed here, and future urban growth scenarios can be tested in multiple disaster conditions.