Planning for river induced floods in urban areas: Experiences and key issues for Sweden

Abstract

Problems in urban areas due to flooding are minor in Sweden from an international perspective. However, some events during the last decade have caused considerable damage which has drawn national attention to flooding. As a consequence, flooding has been placed on the political agenda, leading to a number of inquiries into flood phenomena from various stakeholders and committee statements from different levels of government. This paper aims to review some major flooding issues for Sweden, ranging from the role of the hydropower and insurance industries in flood mitigation to the urban planning process Urban areas bare the brunt of the major consequences of floods, so planning and risk management in cities and towns greatly influence flood risk. An important part of the flood risk mitigation strategy in Sweden is the creation of comprehensive flood risk maps for many Swedish catchments. The low resolution of these maps, however, limits their use in city planning. Here, the planning process is summarized and critically discussed with regard to flood risk Most of the major rivers in Sweden are heavily regulated for hydropower production. Regulation has had a great influence on flood risk by reducing natural high peak flows in spring and sometimes enhancing the risks during summer and autumn. Thus regulation strategies are reviewed and questioned The low occurrence of natural disasters in Sweden has led to generous insurance coverage for flooding. An increase in the number of floods in Sweden and major events elsewhere in Europe seem likely to change that with the insurance companies putting pressure on the municipalities to improve their planning and risk management. Thus the role of insurance companies for flood risk planning is discussed.