Integration of resiliency measures into flood risk management concepts of communities

Abstract

Based on the recent flood events in Europe and following the latest scientific reports on climate change IPCC, and urban development EEA it becomes evident that the areas in Northern and Middle Europe are becoming increasingly affected by flooding. In the changing environment, the conventional flood protection measures are not providing sufficient protection level and are very cost intensive. New strategies to cope with flooding have to be developed and implemented to adapt the communities to climate change in an adequate way. This paradigm shift from "flood fighting" to "living with floods" reflects the current EU Flood Policy formulated in the EU Flood Directive and adopted by national laws. Especially vulnerable are urban areas where the economic growth, in case of extreme flood events, can be irreversibly disrupted. Other than applying mere conventional protection, the innovative resilience concepts should be considered that integrate the building environment into flood protection by improving the resilience performance of the urban fabric and build capacity of stakeholders. In order to optimise the performance of flood protection, as alternative to resiliency measures for each household separately, integrative solutions for the area/city quarter are to be considered. In general, which level of integration is to be implemented depends technical, economic and socio-political criteria. The adopted integration level can in any case be supported by the ad-hock measures that can serve as an intermediate solution and initial phase for active stakeholder involvement. For the historic area of the City of Lauenburg that was recently severely affected by flood events of the river Elbe (2002, 2006), resilience concepts have been developed. Without a solution for flood protection, sustainable development of the city, primarily focused on tourism, cannot be achieved. Different resilience solutions, based on different levels of integration and adaptability are presented and discussed. © 2008 WIT Press.