Adapting territories to flood risk in France and Spain: Towards new planning practices for flood-prone areas?

Abstract

Do current mandates to adapt territories to climate change and its effects contribute to the emergence of new forms of development in flood prone areas (by overflowing rivers or marine submersion), through the development of new operational practices aimed at flood and water planning? This question is examined through a comparative analysis of development policies for flood-prone areas currently implemented in France and Spain. In France, new forms of public action are emerging (at least occasionally) to promote the resilience of territories to flooding and their adaptation to climate change. Resilient urban planning initiatives and the relocation of properties in risk areas are two manifestations of the gradual appropriation of this new logic by local planners. In contrast, initiatives that follow the logic of living with the risk of flooding appear to be much more embryonic in Spain. However and after some recent flood episodes, this new perspective and the forms of development associated with it are subject to increasing debates that question conventional flood management measures and promote a more flood resilient urbanism.