Spatial Planning and Flood Resilience

Abstract

This study examines how spatial factors amplified the 2021 Bozkurt flood and whether post-disaster plans reduced them. Using field observations, interviews, and layered spatial analysis (slope, morphology, land use, hydrological overlays), the study applies the Disaster Resilience of Place (DROP) framework: exposure, inherent resilience, adaptive recovery. Four drivers emerge: narrow valley morphology with rapid runoff, enclosed tributaries, extensive impervious surfaces, and outdated or weakly enforced planning. Comparing the 2016 pre-disaster and 2023 revision plans shows partial gains (channel widening, reopened tributaries, arch bridges, debris traps), yet large residential clusters remain in mapped flood zones and roughly 75% of the stock sits below the crest-elevation rule, sustaining a resilience gap. There is also a disconnect between basin-scale strategies and statutory zoning. The study calls for anticipatory, water-sensitive planning that links nature-based solutions and green infrastructure to enforceable performance standards and coordinated upstream-downstream action.